WWF says the reported sighting of a Yangtze River dolphin, or baiji, means there is still a chance to protect cetaceans in the Yangtze from extinction through a program established with HSBC.

The Chinese media reported that a local businessman in Tongling City in Anhui Province filmed "a big white animal" with his digital camera on August 19. The footage was later confirmed to be a baiji by Professor Wang Ding, a leading scientist in baiji study at the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

It is the first baiji reportedly found in the Yangtze since a scientific expedition last year, during which no single baiji was spotted.

"The finding of baiji proved our thoughts and presents a last hope to save the species with strengthened measures," said Dr. Zhu Jiang, senior programme officer at WWF-China's Wuhan Office. "The protection strategies and action plan will be implemented under the WWF-HSBC programme to conserve the baiji and the Yangtze together with related stakeholders."

In February 2002, WWF joined forces with HSBC, one of the world's largest banking and financial services organizations, to launch a five-year partnership that focuses on protecting global freshwater systems. WWF and HSBC are currently working together on reversing the decline of freshwater habitats in Brazil, China, Mexico, United Kingdom and the United States.

In 2003, WWF recently signed a five-year agreement with the Wuhan city government to promote conservation in the Yangtze River Basin, marking the official launch of the WWF-HSBC Yangtze Programme. The Programme is part of the WWF-HSBC 'Investing in Nature' project.

The goal of the project is to establish an integrated approach to solve river basin issues in the Yangtze and to restore the natural connections between now disconnected lakes and the Yangtze. The project aims to re-link at least one disconnected lake to the Yangtze within five years, thus eventually restoring the web of life in the central Yangtze while accelerating local, social, and economic development. With the signing of a previous memorandum of understanding with the Hubei Provincial government in September 2002, WWF began policy work, research, and training for local stakeholders.