The WILD Foundation is a nonprofit organization under the 501(c)(3) tax classification. It was started in 1974 by two people from South Africa and is located in Boulder, Colorado.

History

The WILD Foundation was started in 1974 by Ian Player, a South African game ranger, and Magqubu Ntombela, his Zulu mentor. Before creating the WILD Foundation, they worked on a project called "Operation Rhino," which was the apartheid government's effort to protect white rhinoceroses from disappearing in the 1960s. Increased rhinoceros poaching in the 2010s has made rhinoceros protection a top focus for WILD again.

After leaving his job with the government's wildlife service, Player created the Wilderness Leadership School. This school offered five-day trips into the African wilderness and began during apartheid. It was the first organization in Africa to provide wilderness experiences to people of all races.

In 1974, the conservation ideas from the Wilderness Leadership School grew into the WILD Foundation and its related groups in the Wilderness Network. Laurens van der Post worked with Player during the early years of WILD and was a member of the board of directors until 1987. The organization was first called the International Wilderness Leadership Foundation but changed its name to the WILD Foundation in 1988. Since 1988, WILD has been part of the World Commission on Protected Areas (International Union for Conservation of Nature) and has led the IUCN Wilderness Specialist Group.

Since its start, the WILD Foundation has worked on many projects in many countries. In 1983, WILD created the World Wilderness Congress. The foundation has also helped support groups like the Cheetah Conservation Fund in Namibia, National Geographic photographer James Balog's Extreme Ice Survey, and the International League of Conservation Photographers, which brings together top photographers to help protect the environment and culture through ethical photography.

From about 2004 to 2010, WILD and iLCP partnered with the cement company Cemex to publish books about topics such as biodiversity, the human impact on nature, transboundary conservation, and climate change. In the 1990s, Cemex and local Mexican organizations worked on conservation projects in the Maderas del Carmen region of northern Mexico. This area became the first legally protected wilderness in Latin America. This work led to the creation of an "Area of Bi-National Environmental Interest" covering 10 million acres along the Texas-Mexico border. This area was supported by presidents Barack Obama and Felipe Calderón and officially approved in November 2011.

The World Wilderness Congress

The World Wilderness Congress is an environmental meeting first held in South Africa in 1977. It has become WILD's main program and has been held nine times on five continents, bringing together thousands of people from around the world. World leaders, such as Mexico's President Felipe Calderón in 2009, Norway's Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland in 1987, and Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser in 1980; well-known individuals like Jane Goodall, Sylvia Earle, Iain Douglas-Hamilton, Thor Heyerdahl, Wangari Maathai, and Mario Molina; tribal and community leaders such as Tashka Yawanawa, Oren Lyons, and Maqgubu Ntombela; heads of major international companies; and hundreds of conservationists have attended the congress.

Nature Needs Half

At the 9th World Wilderness Congress in Mérida, Mexico, WILD, with help from many international groups, governments, and individuals, introduced a plan called Nature Needs Half. This plan hopes that humans will stop using half of Earth's land and water to protect wilderness areas. Marine biologist Sylvia Earle and Jane Goodall support Nature Needs Half. Earle's only comment was that she "hoped that half would be enough." Since the plan began, WILD has started collecting and studying examples of places worldwide that have, or are working towards achieving, protection of at least half their land and water.

Wilderness Foundation Global

The WILD Foundation is part of a group called Wilderness Foundation Global. This group includes the WILD Foundation (US), The Wilderness Foundation (South Africa), The Wilderness Foundation (United Kingdom), and the Wilderness Leadership School (South Africa). Wilderness Foundation Global works around the world to:

• Protect and help take care of wilderness areas, wildlife, and people who live in those areas.
• Show the importance and benefits of wildlands and oceans.
• Offer information, learning, experiences, and training about wilderness topics.

Publications

• International Journal of Wilderness (ISSN 1086-5519)
• Wilderness Management (ISBN 1-55591-855-7)
• Zulu Wilderness: Shadow and Soul, Ian Player (ISBN 1-55591-363-6)
• When Elephants Fly, Carol Batrus (ISBN 978-1-55591-565-0)
• Una Introducción al Derecho y las Políticas Internacionales Sobre Áreas Silvestres, Kormos
• International Handbook on Wilderness Law and Policy, Cyril Kormos (ISBN 978-1-55591-680-0)
• Wilderness (published in Spanish as Tierras Silvestres), Vance Martin (images by Patricio Robles Gil) (ISBN 978-607-00-1522-9)