WILD

WILD receives the 2011 National Bob Marshall Wilderness Stewardship Award

It's official! WILD is honored by the US Forest Service as this year's recipient of the Bob Marshall Award for Group Champion of Wilderness Stewardship.  This award recognizes our dedication to wilderness stewardship, partnerships with the US land management agencies and ongoing work for wilderness in the United States.  It is one of the highest honors from the federal government for outstanding work in wilderness protection and management. This award is particularly special because of the wilderness champion for which it is named.  Robert Marshall (1901-1939), a renowned writer and activist, was head of recreation management with the Forest Service for ... Read More

Big Bend/Rio Bravo, USA-Mexico conservation success

Good things often take awhile, and are worth waiting for… In late 2008 we were planning practical outcomes for WILD9 (the 9th World Wilderness Congress),  with The WILD Foundation and our partners trying to create better wilderness awareness in Mexico and better cooperation for wilderness in North America. Patricio Robles Gil -- the great Mexican conservation photographer and artist, and our partner in creating WILD9  --  suggested to me that we visit with our colleague Juan Elvira Quesada, Mexico’s Secretary of Environment, and present to him the long-dormant plan for a transboundary park along the USA/Mexico border in the region of ... Read More

Make Your Voice Count for the Spirit Bear

Yesterday, our colleague Simon Jackson (founder and chairman of the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition), circulated an call for help with the Spirit Bear Campaign.  Currently, there are two major preventable threats to the spirit bear: an urgent need for a meaningful sanctuary in their last intact ecosystem and the long term concern of oil spills from tanker traffic in the waters within this wilderness.  Today, you can speak up to help prevent oil spills from tanker traffic --- and your voice is urgently needed! Here is the call-to-action from the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition and their partners: We are asking you, on ... Read More

Quebec’s Committment to HALF

Last month, the Quebec government said it plans "to dedicate 50% of the territory of the Plan Nord to protecting the environment, safeguarding biodiversity and developing the natural heritage, as well as to various types of development that do not rely on industrial activities." And, they committed to a public comment period to get feedback. Read More

Science & Stewardship to Protect Wilderness Values

The Science & Stewardship Symposium was a core part of WILD9, the 9th World Wilderness Congress (2009, Mexico). One outcome of the symposium is a free, online publication which compiles proceedings of the symposium (also available in print).  The symposium and the proceedings were lead by our colleagues at the US Forest Service, specifically Alan Watson, Joaquin Murrieta-Saldiva and Brooke McBride. Read More

KAZA – A Major Step for Transboundary Conservation in Africa

A major step for wild nature and people in Southern Africa occurred on 18 August 2011 at the summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). At the closing session, the presidents of Angola, Zambia, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Botswana signed the treaty that officially recognizes the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA). In planning since the concept was agreed in 2003, KAZA is now officially the world’s largest conservation area involving a mosaic of different resource protection areas, including National Parks, Game Reserves, Forest Reserves, Conservancies, Game/Wildlife, Management Areas and Communal lands. Read More

State of the Ocean Report

On Monday, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA) and the International Program on the State of the Oceans (IPSO), released a report warning that the world's oceans are at high risk for a globally significant marine extinction. The resulting preliminary report from the first ever international, interdisciplinary workshop addresses the cumulative impact of various stressors affecting the world's oceans.  This stressors included pollution, acidification, ocean warming, over fishing and hypoxia (deoxygenation). Professor Dan Laffoley, Senior Advisor at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and contributor to the workshop, emphasises the vital role of ... Read More

Wildlife Task Force meets to combat organized crime targeted at elephants and rhinos

From May 17-19, 2011, the Ivory and Rhinoceros Enforcement Task Force of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) met in Gigiri, Kenya to discuss urgent actions against crimes targeting these two animals. The smuggling of elephant ivory continues to occur at significant levels, and the people behind the illegal trade do not appear to be deterred by the regular losses they are suffering at the hands of border control agencies. As recently as last week, officials in Kenya seized over 1 ton of ivory about to be smuggled out of the country. Read More

Society for Wilderness Stewardship Connects Professionals Dedicated to Wilderness Stewardship, Science and Education

Wilderness - - as a protected area concept - - began in the US. It is now formally recognized and protected in about 11 countries and less-formally in many others (International Wilderness Law and Policy). In the US, the National Wilderness Preservation System continues to grow slowly but steadily, and at 110 million acres is now over 5% of the total US land territory (2.7% of just the 48 contiguous states). Recently, the independent Wilderness Stewardship Association was founded to assure better involvement in wilderness management in the US by US professionals. Read More

Botswana’s Okavango Delta – Push for World Heritage Listing

Africa Geographic reporter Ian Michler recently highlighted the positive conservation progress and goals of Botswana and the unique Okavango Delta system. He touts Botswana's commitment to non-consumptive, photography-based low-volume ecotourism as a key reason why the country's wildlife and wildlands are in such great shape. Those who have been lucky enough to experience the Okavango, have seen first-hand why Michler commends the government's conservation efforts and strategic partnerships that promote sound ecotourism practices, deter poachers and support community programs. Read More