Arctic Village Activist, Sarah James, to Speak at 12th World Wilderness Congress in August

The organizers and hosts of the 12th World Wilderness Congress are excited to announce that Goldman Environmental Prize Winner and Arctic Village Spokeswoman, Sarah James, will deliver a plenary keynote address at WILD12 on Monday, August 26.

Sarah James is a lifelong advocate for the Neets’aii Gwich’in people of the Arctic Village in Alaska. For over 20,000 years the Gwich’in People have lived in harmony with the Porcupine Caribou herd, but in recent decades, oil and natural gas drilling have threatened both the caribou and the Gwich’in’s traditional lifeways. Since the late 1980s, Sarah James has been one of the tribally designated activists for her people, their lifeways, and by extension the surrounding wildlife of Alaska.

Since then, Sarah has risen to global prominence by speaking her story and sharing with others the importance of Indigenous lifeways in preserving the spiritual and ecological integrity of the land. She will continue her work at WILD12, where she will share her story with delegates and meet with other leaders to consider next steps in the fight to protect the Arctic’s ecology and its Traditional People.

The 12th World Wilderness Congress (WILD12) is a global forum to coordinate and mobilize the protection of Earth’s remaining wilderness and wild places. It convenes thousands of delegates from around the world approximately every 4 years to seek and agree upon new actions and principles in the stewardship of Earth. WILD12 is hosted by the Oceti Sakowin on behalf of the Sicangu Lakota Treaty Council, and will place a special emphasis on reinterpreting wilderness through Indigenous perspectives.

To register for WILD12, please visit the link below.