The Wild Planet Project (WPP) is an initiative coordinated by The WILD Foundation for the 8th World Wilderness Congress (8th WWC), that will compile the state of the art information on wilderness and catalyze new wilderness designations. The WPP has five theme areas: (a) Wilderness Mapping; (b) Designating Wilderness; (c) Large Landscape Conservation; (d) Managing Wilderness Protected Areas; and (e) Wilderness Benefits.

The Wild Planet Project will be implemented via seven NGO and government agency led thematic working groups: Biodiversity, Marine, Wilderness Management, Law and Policy, Ecosystem Functions, Economics, and Social. The analyses and events listed below represent the current state of planning for the WPP. The WPP work will be integrated into the 8th WWC, plenaries and working sessions, and a publication will summarize WPP results shortly after the 8th WWC. We hope to update the WPP for the 9th World Wilderness Congress.


Mapping Wilderness

• Wild Waters – Conservation International (CI) is currently developing a “Wild Waters” analysis, updating and adding to the Wild Rivers inventory presented at the 4th WWC in 1987, and assessing other inland water wilderness areas.
   
• Review of Terrestrial Wilderness Inventories – CI will present a review of terrestrial global wilderness inventories, including their 2002 analysis, Wilderness: Earth’s Last Wild Places.
   
• MegaFlyover – Scientist/explorer Michael Fay will give the first public report on his pioneering transect flights across the African continent to assess the status of wildland areas and wildlife populations, and “human footprint” of adjacent communities.
   
• Marine Wilderness – The International Roundtable on Wilderness Law and Policy described below generated an initial definition of marine wilderness. This definition – and its policy implications – will be vetted at the WWC. The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Marine Conservation Biology Institute (MCBI), and other partners will present work towards global assessments of the most intact marine areas around the world.

 Designating Wilderness

• International Roundtable on Wilderness Law & Policy – This Roundtable was hosted by WILD in November 2004, in Washington, D.C. and reviewed U.S. and international approaches to wilderness law and policy. WILD is developing an International Wilderness Law and Policy handbook to guide decision-makers around the world, and working with officials in several Latin American countries interested in announcing new wilderness designations at the 8th WWC. Follow-up working sessions will be held during the 8th WWC.
   
• Corporate Wilderness Designations – WILD, Agrupacion Sierra Madre and CI are working towards an agreement with corporate partners to declare the first official corporate wilderness designation in Latin America.
   
• The Native Lands and Wilderness Council – The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (Montana), and a Canadian First Nation will convene indigenous groups from around the world to present models for protecting and sustaining wilderness on native lands. Outputs will include an indigenous network on wilderness and wildland management, and published case studies. Support for the integration of indigenous perspectives throughout the WWC is provided by The Christensen Fund. Indigenous delegates will be sponsored by WILD via support from the Ford Foundation, New York Community Trust, The Christensen Fund and others.

Managing Wilderness Protected Areas

• Global Wilderness Seminar for Government Agencies – A training session hosted by the interagency Wilderness Policy Council of the U.S. Government and designed for government land managers from around the world. This session will create an international network of government land stewards who will exchange information on wilderness management and work towards wilderness designations.
   
• Training for Professionals and Volunteers – A university-accredited Wilderness Management Training to be held in Anchorage from 24-29 September, involving some 50 NGO representatives and other professionals.
   
• Kamchatka and Russian Far East – WILD is working with UNDP, the Kamchatka League of Independent Experts, the Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center, The Aldo Leopold Wilderness Research Institute and others to convene a protected areas management training in Kamchatka on May 11-13, 2005, with a subsequent delegation to the 8th WWC. Support for this initiative is provided by Trust for Mutual Understanding.
   
• Large Landscape Conservation – The Wilburforce Foundation will chair and organize a panel on large landscape conservation in North America. The panel will, focus on the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, the Canadian Boreal Initiative, the Great Bear Rainforest projects, and conservation work by the Deh Cho First Nation in the Nahanni in Canada.

Wilderness Benefits

• Ecosystem Services – Scientists that participated in the United Nations Environment Programme’s Millennium Assessment, will present the latest data on global ecosystem services and the ability of ecosystem services to continue to sustain human well-being.
   
• Biodiversity Benefits – wilderness areas provide essential biodiversity benefits – including genetic resources for pharmaceuticals or agriculture, to buffers from disease. Conservation International will review the biodiversity benefits of wilderness.
   
• Economic Benefits – Dr. Robert Costanza will lead a team of economists to update their landmark 1997 assessment, “Economics of Conserving Wild Nature,” reviewing the economic benefits of ecosystem services and biodiversity.

Social Benefits

• The Native Lands and Wilderness Council – (please see above)
   
• HIV/AIDS and South African Youth – The 8th WWC will launch a new Wilderness Foundation South Africa initiative designed to educate and support AIDS orphans and vulnerable children in South Africa through mentoring game reserves and parks.