Explanation

Indonesia said on Wednesday (Jan 29) it has cut ties with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as it accused the global conservation group of overstepping its mandate in the country and unfairly criticising efforts to extinguish out-of-control forest fires last year. The South-east Asian nation said it had sent a letter to the WWF’s domestic office last week terminating a cooperation agreement that stretched back to 1998. The agreement involved joint work in the area of wildlife conservation and forestry, it added. An environment ministry spokesman said the WWF improperly extended its work across the archipelago into areas linked to climate change, waste management and environmental issues.