Transforming our relationship with nature
Lasting protections for wilderness begin with people, a future for wilderness begins with us
Help sustain leadership and communities for wild places.
WILD supports communities at the front lines of conservation, strengthening the relationships, knowledge, and systems needed to defend and steward the wild
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+50 Years of bringing people back to the wild
The relationship between people and wild nature is not always in balance. For more than 50 years, WILD has worked to strengthen and restore that relationship by bringing leaders, communities, and partners together to achieve lasting protections that support the long-term stewardship of wild places and benefit all life.
About Wild
Healing broken relationships with nature
Nature is in retreat because the relationship between people and all life has fallen out of balance. WILD addresses the root cause of biodiversity loss by strengthening the desire & capacity of communities to act in ways that heal and restore nature.
Our +50 year journey
WILD began in friendship in the 1960s. Our founders, Ian Player and his Zulu mentor, Magqubu Ntombela, helped save the Southern White Rhino from the brink of extinction, discovering a deeper connection to each other and the wild.
Uniting Indigenous Leadership & Contemporary Science
WILD works across cultures to bring together Indigenous knowledge systems and science, helping leaders and communities share knowledge to make just and informed decisions about how to care for wild places in a rapidly changing world.
Grounded global policy ambition
Today, less wilderness remains than at any time in human history. WILD is working to keep at least Half of Earth’s lands & seas wild & intact because the scientific consensus states that this is the space nature needs for all life to thrive.
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Mali Elephant Landscapes
True collaboration & the recognition of local leadership make sustainable solutions possible
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Rainforest Lifeways
Indigenous lifeways & life planning are the key to a healthy rainforest
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World Wilderness Congress
For +50 years WILD has convened the world’s longest running public environmental policy platform
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Real talk for real protections: what does it actually take to protect life on Earth
WILD prides itself on driving the global conservation agenda especially around community-based approaches to conservation & protecting nature at the scale it needs to nourish life
Learning CenterStories from the Wild
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Giving Makes Earth Sacred
Too often, the vast expanse of lands known as the Great Plains is dismissively referred to as “flyover country.”
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IUCN Motion 107: Protect the Sacred
Protecting the sacred means protecting life. IUCN World Conservation Congress Motion 107 calls for safeguarding sacred landscapes, species & Indigenous stewardship worldwide.
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IUCN Motion 096: On the Road to Half
WILD12 advanced the call to protect at least Half of Earth—linking Indigenous stewardship with science-based conservation goals.
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