Director General

WWF

Mr. Leape officially took over as the Director General of WWF in December 2005, which is one of the world's largest independent conservation organizations with 4,400 staff and offices in more than 100 countries.

Mr. Leape has worked in nature conservation for more than 25 years. He began his career as an environmental lawyer, working on environmental protection cases in the United States, advising the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and co-authoring a text on environmental law.

Mr. Leape joined WWF-US in 1989 and for ten years directed its worldwide conservation programmes, serving as Executive Vice-President. For the last four years, he directed the conservation and science initiatives of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, one of the largest conservation funders in the world.