National Wilderness Month

Perhaps not at the top of list for politicking in the steamy race for the U.S. Presidency, wilderness remains a priority for the current Administration and will be on the agenda for the next Congress.  President Barack Obama has declared September as National Wilderness Month for the fourth year in a row, recognizing the immense contribution wilderness makes to the quality of life of every American.

Now hiring: Part-time Administrative Assistant

WILD is thrilled to announce a new staff opening within our Boulder team! We are currently accepting applications for the part-time Administrative Assistant position available at our Boulder, Colorado office & will begin interviewing interested candidates beginning mid-September. The Admin Assistant is responsible for assisting WILD staffing with a wide range of fundraising, administration, communications and outreach efforts. This person will be working closely with the WILD staff, associates, supporters, volunteers/interns, general public, board members and partners.

Mali: Local communities are heroes in the fight against elephant poaching

There is currently no government presence in the Gourma but the local people are still there and our work continues. Since the elephant death in January (see blog post Note on the poaching incident at Insegueren, Mali) there were two more killings in May, and in all cases our community information networks have discovered the identity of the perpetrators and the people who ordered the killings. They have also discovered the identity of the thief and forced the return of stolen solar panels from one of the Banzena boreholes. The local communities have achieved great things but have requested armed backup so that the individuals responsible for elephant deaths are arrested.

The first poached elephant: January 2012

WILD Partners with City Club in Boulder, Colorado

Highland City Club and The WILD Foundation are pleased to announce a partnership to enhance programming and networking activities for local and international nature conservation and environmental issues. City Club’s mission is to provide leading edge information on key social and civic issues. The WILD Foundation’s Nature Needs Half™ movement is a global vision to protect and interconnect at least half of the planet’s lands and waters, to assure that wild areas can continue to provide essential social, spiritual, biological and economic benefits that support all life on earth.

The Celtic Green Man

Vance, WILD’s president, has recently been working hard to spruce up our office.  One of his projects was to paint the entrance which required taking down artwork.  One of the pieces that hangs right next to the door was a small, circular, green face surrounded by leaves.  Vance asked around the office to see if anyone knew what it was; most of us didn’t realize it was there (even though we walk by it every time we come in).  Turns out that this figure is the Celtic green man, who is the perfect symbol for The WILD Foundation.

Native Lands & Wilderness Council: 2012 Regional Gathering

You’re invited!

Native Lands and Wilderness Council
2012 Regional Gathering

Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Mission Mountain Tribal Wilderness
Salish Kootenai College – Pablo, Montana
Flathead Indian Reservation
September 5-7, 2012

Graduation marks new beginnings for vulnerable youth

Changing the world requires people who are willing to change themselves…this is as true for people working in nature and wilderness conservation as it is for anyone else.  The students and potential young  leaders in the year-long training program of  Umzi Wethu (South Africa) know this more than most of us can even imagine.  They have all come from very disadvantaged, often  AIDS-affected, poverty-level families—many of them teenaged heads of their own households of younger siblings, having lost both parents.   When Umzi gives them a chance to change, they seize it with both hands, and amazing things happen.

Umzi’s remarkable success continues. On Friday July 27, 2012 the Umzi Wethu training academy for vulnerable youth in Port Elizabeth (Eastern Cape, South Africa) celebrated the graduation of its 10th and 11th intake of students. The ceremony marked the graduation of a total of 177 students since the project’s inception seven years…

Wild Wonders of Europe comes to Madrid!

Opening at El Retiro Park, Madrid — 25 September 2012

Save the date! The landmark outdoor photo exhibition, Wild Wonders of Europe (WWE) is coming to El Retiro Park in central Madrid, Spain on Tuesday, 25 September 2012.

Staffan Widstrand, WWE Managing Director, is on the WILD10 ExCo, and WWE is a close working partner. He will be in the US in October to speak at an event to publicize WILD10 and WWE, co-hosted by The WILD Foundation, The Murie Center, and the National Museum of Wildlife Art.  The NMWA will stage the WWE indoor exhibition in October 2013, simultaneously with WILD10 convening in Europe.

WILD10 is a proud partner with Wild Wonders of Europe, Madrid.

Samburu warriors as ambassadors for lion conservation

In 2010, WILD partnered with the Ewaso Lions Project, which promotes coexistence between lions and local pastoralists in northern Kenya, where rising conflict has contributed to a declining lion population with less than 2,000 individuals remaining. Ewaso Lions is a grassroots project whose mission is to encourage the conservation of lions and other large carnivores through research and community-based outreach programs. In this article, adapted from a piece that appeared on the Kenya Wildlife Trust website, Paul Thomson, managing director of Ewaso Lions, writes about their Warrior Watch program.

Black bears living near Colorado’s I-70 will benefit from proposed wildlife bridge

A study was conducted in 2009 and 2010 to count the animal species whose territories overlap the heavily traveled section of I-70 in Colorado from Dotsero to Golden.  The results of this study are helpful to support the construction of wildlife over and underpasses since it shows the vast diversity and numbers of animals that could be at risk of vehicle collisions.  The study also showed that black bears are present in the area where the I-70 wildlife bridge is intended to be built.