Photo © AJ Robbie
The Wilderness Specialist Group (WSG) is organized under the auspices of the World Commission for Protected Areas (WCPA) of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Originally initiated by WILD as a WCPA ‘Task Force’ in 2003, it was recognized as a permanent ‘Specialist Group’ in 2009. The objectives of the WSG include promoting research and discussion on the importance of wilderness; integrating wilderness into the WCPA protected area guidelines and publications; creating the best global wilderness policy; and serving as a liaison between IUCN-WCPA and the World Wilderness Congress.
The Story for Our Future
March 2020
The Story for Our Future: The WILD11 Jaipur Declaration
WILD11, the 11th World Wilderness Congress, was scheduled for Jaipur India, 18-27 March 2020, but was indefinitely postponed in early March due the Covid-19 pandemic. The agenda of WILD11 was well-set and practical outcomes were ready for launching — numerous of which have since occurred.
In the few months following the postponement, the WILD11 Executive Committee worked with many of the key partners and experts involved with program planning and also with members of the IUCN Wilderness Specialist Group to integrate many of the expected policy recommendations into a single document.
The WILD11 Jaipur Declaration is the first global conservation policy briefing and recommendations framed as a story, because the programme format of WILD11 was purposefully structured around the power and importance of story-telling in effectively communicating our collective work, aspirations and solutions for a wilder and better world.
Global Charter for Rewilding the Earth
Jaipur, India, 2020
Global Charter for Rewilding the Earth
This Global Charter for Rewilding the Earth was developed by experts within the global conservation community preparing for the 11th World Wilderness Congress. WILD11 was scheduled to convene in Jaipur, India, 19–26 March 2020, but was indefinitely postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Charter was subsequently approved by the WILD11 Resolutions Committee on behalf of the delegates. To click directly on the URLs in this document, download the PDF file to your device and access the links from there. Learn more about WILD11 outcomes by visiting: www.wild11.org/outcomes
Policy Brief: Nature-Based Solutions
17 August 2020
Executive Summary
To meet societal challenges, such as climate change, disaster risk reduction, economic and social development, human health and water security, and environmental degradation and biodiversity loss, the concept of nature-based solutions (NbS) has been launched. At the core of NbS is to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural and modified ecosystems. This paper analyzes how the three issues of “wilderness,” “rewilding” and “Nature Needs Half” can contribute to NbS. It concludes that all three concepts could play a very essential role in implementing NbS. A detailed assessment of the potential contribution of “wilderness,” “rewilding” and “Nature Needs Half” to the eight Criterions of the IUCN Global Standard for Nature-based Solutions illustrates that. It is, therefore, recommended to take all the three aspects into account when rolling out these new standards.
Policy Brief: Infectious Diseases: Wilderness, Wildlife, Climate and Biodiversity
20 July 2020
Infectious Diseases: Ecology, drivers, climate breakdown & the need for nature action.
Background: Human Transformation of Nature is the Prime Driver of Infectious Diseases
The transformation of nature, and especially of primary ecosystems, has increased the exposure of humans to pathogens originating in wildlife. Together with the industrialization of food production both on land and in sea and the conversion of land for farming and extractive industries, conversion has accounted for almost half of all global zoonotic infectious diseases. The fragmentation of natural landscapes, with less top predators, further increases the risks. Commercialization of wildlife as human food has contributed to several significant zoonotic infectious disease transmissions to humans. Biodiversity hotspots in tropical regions, with higher number of mammal species and larger pool of pathogens, might contribute more to the disease emergence risk.
John Waithaka named WSG Co-Chair
About John Waithaka
John Waithaka has deep connections with nature right from his upbringing. Born just outside the boundary of the Aberdare National Park and Forest Reserve in Kenya, he grew up as a shepherd boy in a very traditional setting. His community shared the land with wild animals and outside influence was minimal. He did not go to school until he was 10 years old as his father did not see the value of formal education. He later specialized in conservation biology and started working with researchers who were studying some key endangered species in the country. He soon became a crusader for community-based conservation as he could not see a future for wildlife without the support of the people who shared their land with the animals.
Over the years, John has worked in various capacities including as a lecturer at Kenyatta University, elephant programme coordinator for Kenya, deputy director at the Kenya Wildlife Service, manager of the European Union’s Biodiversity Conservation Programme and director of the African Conservation Center. He moved to Canada in 2003 and worked with Parks Canada as a conservation biologist until he returned to Kenya in January 2017.
John joined the IUCN in 1992 as a member of the SSC – African Elephant Specialist Group. Currently, he is serving as the WCPA Regional Vice Chair for East and Southern Africa and as a member of the IUCN World Heritage Panel and IUCN Green List of Protected Areas Management Committee. He is also a Co-Editor of PARK – the IUCN-WCPA International Journal of Protected Areas and Conservation.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Botany and Zoology (University of Nairobi), MSc in Biology of Conservation (University of Nairobi) and a Ph.D. in Zoology (Kenyatta University, Nairobi).
John’s passion is to contribute towards the achievement of the IUCN global vision of a “just world that values and conserves nature.”
Senior Policy Adviser at WILD and IUCN-WCPA Vice Chair for World Heritage (and Chair of WCPA World Heritage Network) leads on guidelines for World Heritage, Wilderness and Large Land and Seascapes
The guidelines provide an overview of the contribution of the World Heritage Convention to wilderness protection globally to date, explain why wilderness and large land and seascapes are crucial to the objectives of the Convention and outline how the World Heritage Convention could be leveraged for more wilderness protection in the future.
A few outstanding accomplishments include:
- Establishing and defending a wilderness protected area category(Category 1b) in the global protected areas classification system of the World Commission on Protected Areas within the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN);
- Co-authoring IUCN publicationWilderness Protected Areas: Management Guidelines for IUCN Category 1b Protected Areas;
- Co-founding and co-chairing IUCN’s Wilderness Specialist Group and coordinating many collaborators to produce international Management Guidelines for IUCN Category 1b wilderness;
In an effort to enhance the worldwide wilderness community and fulfill the mission of the Wilderness Specialist Group, WILD provides secretariat services for the WSG. In 2016 the Wilderness Specialist Group produced “Wilderness Protected Areas: Management Guidelines for IUCN Category 1b Protected Areas”. These guidelines were launched at the 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Leadership of the WSG consists of:
Vance G. Martin
Founder and Co-Chair of the WSG and President of the WILD Foundation
John Waithaka
Co-Chair of the WSG and WCPA Regional Vice Chair for East and Southern Africa
Zhang Qian
Manager of the Wilderness Specialist Group