1001 Club

1001 Club

The 1001 Club: A Nature Trust is a trust that helps fund the World Wide Fund for Nature. It was established in 1970 by the then head of the WWF, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, with help from Anton Rupert, a South African entrepreneur. They persuaded 1001 individuals to join the club, where each member would contribute US $10,000 to the trust. In the early 1970s, Charles de Haes took charge of the operation for reaching $10 million goal, becoming Director General of WWF-International from 1975. The resulting $10 million fund helps to fund the WWF's basic costs of administration.

The membership of the 1001 Club largely consists of managers of banks and multinationals from around the world (see membership lists under References).

According to a 1993 Washington Monthly article, "The secret list of members includes a disproportionate percentage of South Africans, all too happy in an era of social banishment to be welcomed into a socially elite society. Other contributors include businessmen with suspect connections, including organized crime, environmentally destructive development, and corrupt African politics. Even an internal report called WWF's approach egocentric and neocolonialist."