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DECENNIAL
REVIEW
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DECENNIAL
REVI E W
0 TO 50, THEN & NOW
• A 10 year snapshot + where we are headed DEFINING THE PROBLEM, 2009-2015
• • • • •
Protected Area Targets How We Are Doing It Respect For People, CoalitionWILD Connectivity, NAWPA WILD10, Rewilding
SETTING THE AGENDA, 2016-2019
• • • • •
Coalition Building How We Are Doing It Identify Leaders: Case Study China Organize Community Action: WILD11 Globalize the Local: WILD Boulder
BIG DECISIONS, 2020 & BEYOND
• • • • • •
Implementation at the National Level How We Are Doing It WILD11 Prioritizing Nature-Based Solutions for & by BRICS Convention of Parties (COP) 15 & 25 On Nature-Based Solutions for Human Livelihoods (Mali)
THE TEAM THAT MAKES IT POSSIBLE
• • • •
Staff Board & Trustees Donors Especially This One: Born Guitars
THE RESOURCES WE USE TO CHANGE THE WORLD
• Finances • Your Generosity
PROLOGUE In 2009 at the 9th World Wilderness Congress, the WILD Foundation launched the Nature Needs Half movement and became the first globally focused NGO to advocate for the protection of half the planet. This set in motion a cascade of events that, ten years later, has culminated in world leaders asking for the very first time, “how much wilderness do humans need to survive?� The question could not have arrived at a better time.
HOW MUCH WILDERNESS DO HUMANS NEED
TO SURVIVE?
In 2020, the world gathers twice under United Nations protocols to make decisions on both the climate and extinction crises. At these meetings, world leaders will determine how much nature they are willing to set aside to help humanity survive the twin threats of carbon emissions and habitat destruction. A political impossibility only a decade ago, a growing number of these leaders now seriously consider the protection of half of Earth’s land and seas as a necessary next step. Although traditional and contemporary scientific consensus maintain that people need at least half of Earth to remain wild and intact for humanity to thrive – and survive! – getting policy leaders to publicly recognize that fact is neither easy nor guaranteed. The following pages document Nature Needs Half ’s journey, from its inception a decade ago at WILD9 in Merída, Mexico to its present, on the eve of two historic global decisions. They provide the basic story on how WILD and its collaborators propelled the issue of protecting half onto the international policy agenda and offer practical suggestions for your own participation in what we at WILD insist must be nothing short of a survival revolution. The upcoming 12 months are crucial for life on Earth. That is why WILD is mobilizing millions of individuals and organizations around the world to urge world leaders to choose survival instead of extinction, revolution instead of collapse.
More than ever Earth and her people need your help.
Join the Revolution to survive.
WELCOME TO THE
0 TO 50, THEN & NOW
A snapshot comparison showcasing what WILD achieved for protecting half of Earth in the last 10 years and where we are headed in 2020. WHAT WE’VE ACCOMPLISHED 2019
2009
COALITION MEMBER NGOs
50+
0
We are proud to announce that in August of 2019, the Sierra Club – one of America’s oldest and largest environmental organizations – partnered with the Nature Needs Half movement and endorsed the goal of protecting 50% of Earth’s land and seas. NATURE NEEDS HALF GLOBAL AUDIENCE
1400 delegates at the 9th World Wilderness Congress (WILD9), and 10,000 viewers online.
78 million across three social media platforms and six continents. WILD’s powerful network of experts, celebrities, and thought leaders who endorse half has expanded the capacity to reach millions of people every month with important calls-to-action.
WHAT WE’VE ACCOMPLISHED CONT. 2019
2009
PL ACES WHERE HALF IS A PART OF THE PUBLIC DIALOGUE North America, Western Europe, China, Russia, Brazil, India, and South Africa. WILD is strategically focusing on the most populous and biodiverse countries to create the greatest impact and most momentum for protecting Earth
North America
WHAT’S NEXT More and more people in North America and Western Europe recognize the need for protecting half of Earth. They are helping to drive the global conversation. But without country level support in other parts of the world we will not be able to achieve half in time to prevent the worst of the climate and extinction crises. That’s why WILD is bringing the urgent campaign for Nature Needs Half to the world’s most populous and biodiverse countries: the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) – necessary partners in the push for the Survival Revolution. REACH
Population 3 out of 7 people are from the BRICS. That is more than 3 billion people.
Biodiversity 4 out of 5 BRICS countries are in the top 17 megadiverse countries on Earth. Brazil and Russia are in the top three for most remaining wilderness.
WHAT’S NEXT CONT. REACH
Economies of Scale 22.26% of the world’s GDP, the BRICS are emerging economies. Their actions will reverberate in our planet’s remaining wild places for centuries to come.
WILD’s 2020 Goal To reach 90 million people in BRICS countries (3% of the total population) every month of 2020 with urgent calls to protect half of their land and seas, and to drive institutional and government dialogue for half policies to ensure implementation of global agreements.
R O F Y R R O S E “WE AR , E C N E I N E THE INCONVIS IS BUT TH ” . N O I T U L O V A RE arcos
nte m subcommanda
DEFINING THE PROBLEM, 2009-2015
Nature Needs Half establishes a new relationship between people and nature, one built on the best traditional and contemporary science, as well as the best values, respect for each other and the natural world. The climate and biodiversity crises are the result of a broken relationship in which one partner, humans, take too much for themselves. Protected areas are fortresses for endangered wildlife and functional landscapes. In many countries around the world they are the last vestiges of the wild. Protected areas can be national parks and public lands. They can also be designated by cities and counties or held by private individuals, or are often long held by traditional communities and cultures.
Protected areas harbor of all endangered wildlife.
83%
Oftentimes, they are stewarded by Indigenous Peoples.
Over a quarter of the world’s remaining intact wild places are on Indigenous lands.
In the past, world leaders have set protected area targets based on political calculations, not scientific evidence. This is despite the fact that since the 1970s, scientists and Indigenous leaders have asserted that people need at least half the Earth to remain intact and wild for the continuation of Earth’s life-giving functions. In 2014 the United Nations set protected area targets to 17% of Earth’s terrestrial area and 10% of its marine area. In addition to a category of land called Other Effective Conservation Measures (OECMs), such as Indigenous managed lands, our planet is approximately 27% protected. And yet still, we are in the midst of the Sixth Mass Extinction.
PERCENT OF EARTH’S LAND PROTECTED IN 2019
We must increase this number to 50% (including OECMs) by 2030 to prevent the catastrophic loss of 1 million species in the next century and the worst effects of the climate crisis.
HOW
ARE DOING IT
Our value-driven work is empowered by a strong commitment to the following core principles: • Respect for people • Respect for nature • Connectivity, in nature and with each other
RESPECT FOR PEOPLE We need each other as much as we need nature. Working together successfully requires respect. We give credence to contemporary science, traditional lifeways, and intergenerational leadership. RESPECT FOR NATURE As long as humans inhabit this world, Earth’s health begins with a human ethic of care and respect for nature. Humanity’s future depends on coming into a right and proper relationship with the natural world.
CONNECTIVITY The world works better when it is connected. This is as true for people as it is for nature. Intact natural systems are highly functional natural systems. So too are human systems that are connected to one another.
respect for people CASE STUDY:
CoalitionWILD When CoalitionWILD works with an emerging leader, we believe in their ability to be a change-maker not just in their community, not just for one project, and not just one time. We invest in their lifetime potential to become leaders for the planet. Through equipping our Ambassadors, Young Champions of the Earth, and Mentees with leadership skills, knowledge, network, and confidence, we enable them to step into position of influence and to utilize their voices to design futures they want to be a part of.
It will be the leadership of younger generations which ensures our planet’s survival. Here’s how CoalitionWILD helps young leaders forge their own path to a planet where people and nature thrive. • 78 Ambassadors in 41 countries. 78 new on-the-ground projects implemented in four years engaging over 9,100 new advocates for the environment. • 20 Young Champions of the Earth from 19 countries scaling up nature-based solutions that are transforming the planet. • 78 mentor partnerships forging intergenerational and cross-boundary dialogues in the international environmental sector.
respect for nature CASE STUDY:
The 10th World Wilderness Congress (WILD10) & Rewilding Europe The World Wilderness Congress – the WILD Foundation’s flagship project – is the longest-running, international, public environmental project committed to expansive inclusivity and practical, inspiring results. It lays the groundwork for successful, long-term conservation efforts, and scales up conservation goals by facilitating problem-solving across cultures, national boundaries, and generations.
At WILD10, which convened in Salamanca, Spain, a new vision for Europe launched – Rewilding Europe – calling for a “continent where the last wilderness areas are protected and where wildlife, natural processes and biodiversity are allowed the space and freedom to come back and shape our land and seascapes as they did for millions of years.”
OUTCOME: Since then, the European momentum for restoring wild nature has increased, resulting in the return of the wolf to every single country on the continent, including the Netherlands and Belgium, and restored landscapes with rejuvenated ecological functionality.
connectivity CASE STUDY:
The North American Wilderness and Protected Area (NAWPA) Agreement
The NAWPA Committee, initiated by WILD in 2009 at WILD9 is a voluntary agreement between six of the largest North American land and resource management agencies in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, which together manage 15% of the continental landmass. Through the NAWPA partnership, participating agencies share experiences, develop best practices, and imagine innovative solutions to enhance stewardship of North America’s conservation lands. Ongoing NAWPA Initiatives include: Assessing Land-Base Conservation In North America This initiative illustrates where and how trilateral cooperation can enhance shared conservation goals.
Identifying Approaches And Opportunities To Enhance Connectivity NAWPA identifies approaches and opportunities to enhance connectivity between conservation areas in order to better conserve biodiversity and build environmental and social resilience in our rapidly changing world.
Fostering Respectful And Inclusive Management Practices Educating on the diversity of approaches by working with Indigenous organizations for the protection, conservation, presentation and interpretation of natural and cultural heritage.
SETTING THE AGENDA 2016-2019
The missing link between scientific recommendations and strong conservation policies is powerful, long-term coalitions capable of placing, and keeping, an issue at the top of the agenda. The WILD Foundation is building and uniting powerful coalitions around the world to help protect half our planet. Building a coalition across cultures and on a planetary-scale is not easy. But WILD’s roots in the global South make us well-positioned to identify and support leaders from these regions. Protecting half the planet requires all-hands-on-deck. We are proud to be working with like-minded wilderness advocates around the world – and especially in Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – to strengthen a truly global movement for a wild and healthy Earth.
“Coalitions are the cornerstones of social, political, and environmental change.”
HOW
ARE DOING IT
Building lasting coalitions depend on the successful execution of the following activities: • Identifying leaders • Organizing community action • Globalizing the local
IDENTIFYING LEADERS Empowering leadership for wilderness requires first identifying those individuals with the courage and resources to motivate change, and then equipping them with the support and networks needed to take their work to the next level.
ORGANIZING COMMUNITIES Community organizing builds communities with purpose. And few purposes are more urgent than the one to protect the source of life on Earth: wilderness. For over 40 years, the WILD Foundation has organized a global wilderness community to scale-up conservation efforts and create lasting solutions for nature.
GLOBALIZING THE LOCAL All nature is globally significant. Building community enthusiasm for local nature is one way to help protect the planet.
identifying leaders CASE STUDY:
China Wilderness WILD, working closely with Chinese partners, is building the potential for lasting wilderness protection in China by encouraging new leadership to create, develop or intiate a national wilderness outreach campaign and policy framework combined with an appreciation for wild places beyond China’s borders.
FIRSTS FOR CHINA, thanks to Leadership of our Chinese Colleagues • First peer-reviewed journal with a wilderness theme (China Journal on Landscape Architecture, June 2017) • First China wilderness inventory (June 2017) • First expert publications linking wilderness with China’s national environmental framework of Eco-civilization • First peer-reviewed article on Nature Needs Half in China (2019)
organizing communities CASE STUDY:
The 11h World Wilderness Congress (WILD11): Nature-based Solutions for Life, Livelihoods, and Love
WILD11 is the global leadership and community organizing answer to the dual existential threats of extinction and climate breakdown. To address this crisis at its global scale, we must mobilize leaders from around the world and all sectors of society to protect and expand the source of life and nature-based solutions: wilderness.
LOCATION: Jaipur, India
DATES: March 19-26, 2020
PURPOSE: To coordinate leadership for more ambitious outcomes later in the year at the World Conservation Congress (IUCN), and the United Nations Climate and Biodiversity conventions.
globalizing the local CASE STUDY:
Wild Boulder In a time of lost connections to nature, Wild Boulder is recruiting and mobilizing new advocates for wildlife in Boulder County, Colorado. A prime example of Nature Needs Half (more than 67% of the county’s lands have been set aside for nature), the region still depends on engaged citizens willing to address threats from climate change, fracking, and over development.
Wild Boulder recruits citizen scientists to document local wildlife and help land managers improve degraded wildlife habitats while simultaneously deepening community respect and care for nature.
BY THE NUMBERS • 17,900 wildlife observations • 1900 species of wildlife documented in Boulder County • 255 active participants
Wild Boulder is a collaboration between the WILD Foundation, the City of Boulder Open Space & Mountain Parks, and Boulder County Parks & Open Space.
“reform is a correction of abuses; revolution is a transfer of power.� edward bulwer-lytton, 1st baron lytton
BIG DECISIONS, 2020 & BEYOND
Global decisions depend on national-level actors to insist on and oversee implementation. WILD is building national-level coalitions to see Nature Needs Half through to the finish line. Protecting half the Earth’s land and seas in time to address the climate and extinction crises requires mobilizing people around the world to stand up for regional policies and practices that protect and restore nature for the benefit of humans.
HOW
ARE DOING IT
Maintaining and expanding coalitions for the long-term requires organizing regular meetings and coordinating common strategies and objectives. WILD improves the chances of successful policy and lifestyle implementation with the following programs: • BRICS-based Nature Needs Half Coalitions • Nature-based Solutions for Human Livelihoods
BRICS-BASED COALITIONS Nearly half of all people live in just five countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. Combined they are known as the BRICS. These countries also are among the highest in biodiversity and wilderness quantity and quality. The survival of human populations around the world depends on building and expanding coalitions in these regions capable of successfully advocating for protecting half of Earth’s land and seas.
NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS FOR HUMAN LIVELIHOODS WILD is expanding awareness about the importance of wilderness and its role in maintaining the conditions for all life, including human civilization. A growing consensus now recognizes that wilderness conservation and restoration is the most effective and cost-efficient mechanism for addressing climate change. It is also an essential component of solutions that address the following challenges: • Soil erosion that reduces farming yields • Clean water supply • Local livelihoods
CASE STUDY:
The Mali Elephant Project
In the Gourma region of Mali, local people understand that Nature is the key to their survival, that prosperous human communities depend on healthy ecosystems, including healthy wildlife populations. The MEP prompted new decentralization legislation which puts natural resources under local control to help communities set aside areas (including elephant habitat) such as pastures, forests, and waterholes to strictly protect and regulate nature. We then used that policy to enhance nature protection and local empowerment.
The resulting availability of natural resources provides local people with tangible benefits by ensuring their livestock have enough to graze throughout the long eight-month dry season. This also benefits women engaged in income-generating activities supported by the project and based on the sustainable harvest of forest products such as gum Arabic and fruits. Finally, the increased availability of natural resources helps the elephants live peaceably with the local people. Such initiatives empower communities to come together and tackle a common challenge – habitat destruction and degradation – and support the MEP’s long-term vision, which is for humans and wildlife to co-exist for mutual benefit.
“revolution is not a spectator sport.� vance martin
THE TEAM THAT MAKES IT POSSIBLE
AMY LEWIS Vice President, Policy & Communications
THE PEOPLE WHO DID IT
VANCE G. MARTIN President
JENNIFER MEYER Director of Operations
GEOFF TENNENT Donor Relations Manager
HEETA LAKHANI WILD11 Executive Director
MELANIE HILL Director of Communications & Outreach
CAROL BATRUS Corporate Secretary
SUNIL MEHTA WILD11 Honorary Managing Director
FRANK PALUMBO WILD11 Program Manager
SUSAN CANNEY Mali Elephant Project Leader
CRISTA VALENTINO CoalitionWILD Director
JACKIE BATRUS Nature Needs Half Community Architect
ADAM HANSON NAWPA
ZHANG QIAN China Wilderness Policy Manager
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Joel Holtrop, Chair
Former Deputy Chief of the US Forest Service
Charlotte Baron, Vice Chair
Vice President, Fulcrum Group
Ed Sanders, Treasurer
Former Associate Director of the President’s Office of Management & Budget (OMB)
Vance Martin, President
Founder & Chair of the IUCN Wilderness Specialist Group
Cristina Goettsch Mittermeier Co-Founder of Sea Legacy
Lindsay Ellis
Associate Professor of Language Arts, Grand Valley State University
Jonathan Miller
Owner & Founder, Born Custom Guitars
Lena Georgas Actor
Kat Haber
Founder of TEDxVail
David Barron
Founder & President of the International Conservation Caucus Foundation
Magalen Bryant
Conservation investor & visionary
TRUSTEES James Balog
Photographer, Earth Vision Institute Founder
Julie Cajune
Salish educator, citizen of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
Sarah A. Casson
Manager, IUCN Wilderness Specialist Group
Timothy Hass
Director, Lorian Association
Morgan Heim
Multimedia journalist
D. Simon Jackson
Founder, Ghost Bear Institute
Larry Kopald
Leading brand architect
Michael McBride
Founder/Owner of the Kachemak Bay Wilderness Lodge
Ilarion Merculieff
Founder/President, Global Center for Indigenous Leadership and Lifeways
Andrew Muir
Executive Director, Wilderness Foundation Africa
Jo Roberts
Director, Wilderness Foundation UK
Jaime Rojo
Conservation photographer & filmmaker
Bittu Sahgal
Founder/Editor, Sanctuary Asia Magazine
Tommi Wolfe
Business Strategy Consultant
DONORS Peter Abbrecht Brian and Younghie Achenbach Adobe Systems Inc. Tina Albright Cathy Alexander Mary Jo Allen Marci Asner Deborah Attwood Craig Austin David and Linda Bachrach Reinhold and Linda Barchet Rachel Barham Tina Barisic Charlotte and Bob Baron Susan Barrows Bruce Beaulieu Katharina Beck Dashti Rahmat Abadi Michael Blake Claudia Bowman Thomas and Pamela Brennecke Judi Brooks Michael Brown Nan Brown Magalen Bryant Buenger-Broun Donor Fund Campari America
April Campbell Carahsoft Technology Corp Candace Carter Veronique Casimir-Lambert Shelly Catterson Aaron Coady Charles Coleman Gina Cornick Virginia Coyle and Win Phelps Michael and Karen Crane Steven Crutchfield Timothy Csernica Harriet Damesek Darwin Initiative Daniel Daugherty Christian Dean Lynn Decher Richard Diamond Sarah Dignardi Tarpan Dixit James and Lara Dunlap Lou Dye Deborah Echt Wiesje Elfferich Ellis Foundation Linda Engel
Llewelyn Engel Joseph and Connie Esch European Union FastFrame Vivian Feintech and Allen Greenfield Jill Fletcher John Flock Foley Family Charitable Foundation Eugene and Georgia Fowler Brenda Frankart Friedman French Foundation Fulcrum, Inc. Vince Gabor Lena Georgas David Gerk Mrs. Hadden Goodman Bo Gosmer Andrea Grant Karen Guthrie Kathryn Haber Charles Haddad Ralph Haffenden Jeffrey Hallett Jerry and Danette Hanttula Mary Harrington Randy Hayes
Katherine S. Heath Chris and Wan-Mei Heinrich Rachel Helmick Kala Hill Bridget Hogue Virgil and Vickie Hogue Joel and Julie Holtrop Brian Huggins Peter Hughes Bernardita and Robert Hutchinson Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund Imbibe Magazine Innovative Openings, Inc International Conservation Fund of Canada Jewish Communal Fund William Todd Johnston Brian Jones Joseph P. Donahue Charitable Foundation Trust Stacy Kaber Eric Kessner Marjorie Kostouros Val Koziol Robert Kuzman Tania Landauer
Karen Larson Will Lawson Mary Lellouche Susan Lilley Rick Loudenburg Mark and Maureen Miller Family Foundation Mr. Milton Markewitz Gary and Beverly McDonald McGinnity Family Foundation Diane McIntire Michael McMillan Mark and Diana McNabb Sunil Mehta Jonathan Miller April Minnich-Bucksbaum MINUSMA MJK Family Foundation Charles Moles Thomas Moran Wendy Mueller Eric Murphy and Timothy Wu Penelope Neal Portia Neal Ronna Nemer Tim Nickles Ed Norton and Susan Gold Michael and Linda O’Bryon
Todd O’Connor Leslie and Geoff Oelsner Phaik Lyn Oh Mr. George Ohrstrom, II and Mrs. Manci Ohrstrom Gary Osheroff Natalie and Matthew Petersen David Posner Alexander Quiambao Mary Reddy Pat and Larry Reeves Maureen Rimar and Peter Mercer Marco Rindstroem Jacques Roberge and Jana Pika Sheila Robinette Roofnest Fred Rubin Luana Rubin Jacqueline Russell Mr. Richard and Kristin Saada Varol Saatcioglu Ed and Peg Sanders Susan Sargent Stacey Sawyer Vanessa Schuchart Patricia Schwindaman Lauri j. Shainsky Sheldon Shalley
Teresa Sherrick Mark Skwarski John Slater John and Jean Slieter Robert Smith Barbara Soderblom South Fork High School Margaret Spallek Kara Spiller Robert Steinberg Cordelia Stone Lois Strobel SubaDude, LLC Alan Sukoenig Gavin Sunde Michiel Ter Ellen Marije terEllen The Pollination Project Foundation The Si Redd and Tamara Redd Charitable Foundation The William A and Katherine T Friedman Trust Theophilus Foundation Andrew Towle Tri Gen Investments, LP Samuel Tripet Toni Troiano Joseph Tully
Stacia Turnquist Tusk Trust UNICRI University of Minnesota US Fish & Wildlife Service USDA Forest Service Emily Van Evera Robert VanderMolen Stephen Wakulchik Kim Waldron Caroline and Andrew Walker Nino Walker Glenna Waterman Ricki Weinberger and Alan Willson Pamela Weinzapfel Toby Welch Phoebe Weseley William and Janis Wesley Kate Wheeler Wildlife Conservation Network Honora Wolfe Tommi Wolfe Jennifer Woods Tierney Greg Yaitanes Wenqing Yan Ron Zeheb Asaph Zimmerman
A SPECIAL THANK YOU
Born Guitars Born Custom Guitars is founded around a passion for music and a desire to inspire you with exceptional guitars and accessories. Its owner, Jonathan Miller, is a dedicated advocate of wild places and the Indigenous Peoples who steward these places. He has, in fact, united his passion for music and guitars with his desire to leave the Earth a better place. Sustainably sourcing his materials, Jonathan is an inspirational business leader. WILD is proud to be among the nonprofits that benefit from his leadership and the philanthropy of his family’s foundation, the Mark and Maureen Miller Family Foundation, which was an early supporter of the Nature Needs Half vision. Thank you, Jonathan and the Mark and Maureen Miller Family Foundation, for helping to keep Earth wild.
THE RESOURCES WE USE TO CHANGE THE WORLD
photo: neale howarth
OUR FINANCES Fiscal Year 2018
REVENUE Primary: $4,948,164 Other: $128,727
4.9M
128K
5.1M
328K
Total: $5,076,891
EXPENSES Program: $5,107,900 Admin: $328,284 Fundraising: $255,056
255K
Total: $5,691,240
The WILD Foundation has earned six consecutive 4-star ratings from Charity Navigator, placing it in the top 9% of all charities for trustworthiness and effectiveness.
9 OUT OF 10 DOLLAR$ DONATED TO WILD DIRECTLY SUPPORT CONSERVATION PROGRAMS.
YOUR GENEROSITY WILD’s impact is born out of the hard work of our staff and the financial commitment of just over 700 donors. Your gift matters. When you give to WILD, you create new leadership for nature that advances and sustains lasting protections for life on Earth. Thank you for helping to keep our planet wild.
Printed on FSC Certified papers, Carbon Neutral, Processed Chlorine Free and are 100% Post Consumer Waste.
concept & design: markvossdesign.com
PROUD CO-FOUNDER OF