The 12th
World Wilderness Congress
WILD12
The 12th World Wilderness Congress (WILD12), held in the Black Hills from August 25-31, 2024, was a successful gathering that united global wilderness advocates, Indigenous leaders, environmental scientists, and conservationists. The World Wilderness Congress is unique among civil society environmental forums as it provides the public a direct and concrete instrument for setting the global environmental agenda. The event focused on reinterpreting wilderness through Indigenous perspectives, fostering collaborative efforts to protect biodiversity. WILD12 highlighted the crucial role of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in safeguarding the planet’s remaining wild spaces.
About The Congress
Since 1976, the World Wilderness Congress has helped nature defenders from around the world gather to develop new strategies and actions for our wild Earth.
Beginning in South Africa as a partnership between famed South African game ranger, Ian Player, and his Zulu mentor, Magqubu Ntombela (you can read more about their friendship here), the Congress was convened to bring together wilderness advocates from around the world to address the root cause of the environmental crisis: a broken relationship with nature.
We invite you to join WILD12, the next gathering of the World Wilderness Congress to be a part of a historic moment when wilderness is reinterpreted through the lens of traditional cultures, rooting Indigenous principles and lifeways at the center of the movement to keep Earth wild.
About WILD12’s Hosts
The Sicangu Lakota Treaty Council
The Seven Council Fires of the Lakota Nation are the traditional decision-makers in Lakota Society, and the signers of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, which formally ceded a large swath of territory to the signers and their descendants. The Sicangu Lakota Treaty Council continues to advocate for traditional Lakota institutions as well as the implementation or renegotiation of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty. They are also working, as the traditional stewards of the Black Hills, for the benefit of all to ensure a healthy and respectful relationship between people and wild nature. The Sicangu Lakota Treaty Council is headquartered on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation.
About The Location: The Black Hills
He Sápa, the Black Hills, is the sacred territory and axis mundi of the Lakota Nation. This special region was fully ceded to them in the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, including a multitude of sacred sites: Wind Cave and Bear’s Lodge (Devil’s Tower in wasi’chu parlance) are just some among many. This vast region is a place for prayer and ceremony; it is regarded and treated with the highest degree of reverence and respect by the Lakota Oyate. We ask that all our delegates observe Lakota protocol for the land and follow their example of respect for this special land. The Congress will be held at The Monument in Rapid City, South Dakota.
An Invitation From Phil Two Eagle
In this video, Phil Two Eagle, Executive Host of WILD12 and Executive Director of the Sicangu Lakota Treaty Council, explains why he wanted to invite the world to the Black Hills, and shares his views and the views of the Sicangu Lakota Treaty Council on what is happening to their sacred territory.
WILD12 Outcomes
For decades the World Wilderness Congress has been the only international, public forum for civil society, government, business, Indigenous Peoples, artists, and scholars to come together as a coalition and as a community to coordinate to keep Earth wild. WILD12 was just that and a space to reimagine wilderness through the lens of traditional cultural knowledge.
Traditional cultures are the best stewards of biodiversity and wild places. Nearly 40% of Earth’s remaining wildlands are in traditional Indigenous cultural areas. WILD12’s organizers wondered, why traditional cultures are so adept at keeping the biosphere intact? And whether or not there is something mainstream wilderness conservation can do better if we place traditional leadership at the center of our movement?
In answer to these questions, some of the many tangible outcomes achieved as a global wilderness community at WILD12 are the following:
An official declaration reinterpreting wilderness through an Indigenous lens
A globally accepted framework for tribal-led wilderness designations on traditional lands
A declaration urging the restoration of IP lands to meet the Half spatial target
A platform to help unify the restoration of wild bison to the Northern Great Plains
WILD12 Speakers
Arvol Looking Horse
Lakota Nation
Sarah James
Arctic Village Spokeperson
Aiita Apamaku
Wildlife Biologist & NatGeo Explorer
Cristina Mittermeier
NatGeo Explorer, Co-founder & Lead Storyteller, Sealegacy
Hinano Murphy
Cultural Director for Tetiaroa Society; Head of the Cultural Committee
Charles F. Sams III
National Park Service Director
Mona Polacca
International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers
Daniel R. Wildcat
Professor, Haskell Indian Nations University
WILD12 – The Sovereign Wild
Protecting the biosphere at a planetary scale is difficult, requiring coordination and action globally.
Opportunities are few and far between to meet and work together across cultures and boundaries. This is why the global community of environmental activists needs you to attend the next World Wilderness Congress!
News & Updates
Speaker Announcement: Reed Robinson
Reed Robinson is the director of the Office of Tribal Relations for the USDA Forest Service.
‘Sacred Return’: Tribal ceremony honors birth of prophesied white buffalo calf (link)
Chief Looking Horse presides over ceremony to honor calf attended by 500 people just west of Yellowstone National Park.
Meet EPC, Sponsor of WILD12!
In this Q&A, we delve into the work of EPC, an environmental consultancy with a deep commitment to wilderness preservation.
