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| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 25 Years of Practical Accomplishments | | | |
WWCs are action-oriented, and structured to generate tangible conservation results on the ground. WWCs always emphasize the need to generate outcomes rather than simply focusing on the exchange of information. WWCs also emphasize the need for innovation, and encourage creative thinking. As a result, the WWC has a wide range of accomplishments to its credit, catalyzing breakthroughs in science, policy, fundraising, and capacity building, and inspiring the formation of new wilderness conservation NGOs around the world. Highlights include:- The first environmental conference to be opened by a minister of finance (Sec. James Baker III, 4th WWC, 1987);
- The first conference to propose a concept for a “world conservation bank,” and credited for providing the impetus for the $3.2 billion Global Environment Facility;
- The first private sector wilderness area in Africa (part of the Shamwari Game Reserve), to create a new model for tourism and private business;
- Training programs that have benefited hundreds of wilderness professionals;
- The first “World Wilderness Inventory,” prepared for the 4th WWC by the Sierra Club;
- The first inventory of “Wild Rivers of the World” also produced by the Sierra Club;
- Advocacy for a separate wilderness classification (Category 1b) under the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Framework for Protected Areas;
- New World Heritage designations and expansion of existing World Heritage sites;
- Launching and generating funding for numerous conservation field projects.
The 8th WWC will be no exception. From new private sector wilderness declarations, to wilderness trails programs for AIDS orphans in South Africa, to a Native Lands Wilderness Council led by indigenous groups from around the world, the 8th WWC is poised to produce conservation results on the ground, and to develop the next generation of conservation models for more effective wilderness and wildlands conservation in the future. | | | | | |
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