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New International President


Syed Babar Ali, WWF International's incoming President, brings to his new responsibilities a wealth of experience in business, education, and the corridors of power. In a world where protecting the environment depends increasingly on forging partnerships with government and industry, Babar Ali knows his way around. Born in 1927 in Lahore (then part of India, now Pakistan), Babar Ali studied science, and then business in the United States, before returning to Lahore to embark on a career in trade and industry. This has taken him from the establishment of his first company, Packages Ltd - now one of the leading companies in Pakistan - to the directorial board of many multinationals.

Babar Ali served his country as Consul General for Pakistan in Sweden and as Minister of Finance, Economic Affairs and Planning in the 1993 interim government. His public service has also included a period (1976-81) as Expert Advisor to the UN Commission for the Code of Conduct for Transnationals. Since 1987 he has been a member of the prestigious Advisory Council of the International Finance Corporation.

Within Pakistan, Babar Ali is equally well known for his contribution to education. In Lahore, he established the Ali Institute of Education (AIE), an innovative teacher-training college, and the University of Management Sciences (LUMS), now declared a centre of excellence. He has even founded an Institute of Calligraphy - because, he says, his own handwriting is so bad.

Once, as a young man, Babar Ali shot a panther: 'And I am not proud of it, either.' His involvement with WWF began in 1971, not long after the organization's foundation, when he was inspired, with some others, to set up the Pakistan Wildlife Appeal. In 1977, he became President of what had become WWF-Pakistan, now that country's largest conservation agency. Since 1988, he has been Vice-President of WWF International.

He is modest about assuming the Presidency. "My challenge is to see that Prince Philip's good work continues in the course he has set. I don't mean to change things, but aim to ensure WWF's work remains dynamic and not reactive."

Babar Ali believes in youthful energy - and, at nearly 70, he epitomizes it. He is particularly pleased that WWF-Pakistan is a young, progressive organization, whose last two Chief Executive Officers came from the corporate sector, changing career in midstream. It's a hopeful sign of the younger generation's growing concern for the environment. And after all, why shouldnŐt a businessman become an environmentalist? Babar Ali himself has set the example and the precedent.