Note: We are currently looking for schools that would like to test the new wilderness running concept with us this fall 2024. Digital and independent thanks to Fundoo.
Are you in? Then get in touch us quickly!
The Wilderness Run is a classic charity run. It offers students the opportunity to get active and get involved: for the protection of the world's most biodiverse rainforests, a healthy climate, and a greener school at home.
You want to participate with your school? Write us a message!
we organized at 68 schools in Germany from 2012 to 2020.
have participated in our lectures and runs.
we were able to protect forever through the donations we received.
As a participating student, you will look for one or more sponsors before the run. These can be private individuals or companies. Together, you determine a sum of money that will be donated for each lap run. On the day of the run, you run as many laps as possible in a set time. The sponsors then donate the amount of money raised to us, Wilderness International. This is how we protect valuable rainforest together.
From a global perspective, old-growth forests are our most important buffer against human-induced climate change. Protecting them is a top priority if we want to save the climate.
Kai Andersch
Forest Scientist & Chairman of the Board
Only 2.8% of the Earth's land surface is still intact habitat.
They still exist in Canada and Peru: thousand-year-old giant trees, salmon-fishing grizzly bears and howling wolves in the temperate rainforest of the north; liana-clad jungle giants, mysterious jaguars and playful monkeys in the tropical rainforest of the south.
The rainforests are not only the most species-rich ecosystems in the world, but also the lungs of our earth: they bind huge amounts of CO2 in their biomass.
With the wilderness run, we can protect them with combined forces!
During lectures, we talk about the peculiarities and threats to these unique ecosystems.
The SV of the Gymnasium Bad Essen independently organized a wilderness run with their fellow students and protected 20,000 m2 of rainforest in Peru forever!
The registration is done by your teachers. They register your class as a running team at fundoo and send you the class link. There you can create your profile and enter your sponsors.
Anyone can participate - regardless of whether you are in primary or secondary school, regardless of the type of school and regardless of where you are in Germany, Austria or Switzerland.
For teachers: Please email us for all registration info. You should plan at least four weeks in advance.
Decide on a date and a suitable location for the run, inform the whole school, organize helpers and, if you wish, music and photographers.
You should plan at least 3 weeks for the preparation.
We will provide you with detailed instructions for the fundraising run so that you don't forget anything.
We explain how wilderness running works and why and what we are working together for: the protection of valuable ecosystems
Start looking for people who will support you with a donation for every lap you run. Fundoo will send you a printable form for this purpose. After that, you can register your supporters online via the donation page. Or you send them a link and they enter their donation themselves.
After a welcome and warm-up, you will have one hour to run as many laps as possible.
In total, the run will take about 2 hours, plus arrival and departure if necessary.
Now tell your sponsors the number of laps you have run via your teachers or directly on fundoo. Now they have a few weeks to transfer their donation to us via fundoo. You may have to remind them again.
All participants receive a certificate of their protected forest, and the most dedicated runners even receive prizes. Sponsors receive a donation certificate.
As a school, you organize a classic charity run. For this purpose, we have written instructions on how the Wilderness Run works.
To introduce the topic, we provide an informational lecture on the rainforest ecosystem and the importance of conservation and personal involvement.
The search for sponsors and donations will be handled via the Fundoo platform. If you raise funds for Wilderness International with your run, the use of Fundoo is free of charge for you.
The participating schools take care of the organization and implementation of the wilderness runs themselves. We take care of presentations within the framework of our foundation's goal of environmental education. Prizes for particularly successful pupils and school classes are provided to us free of charge by our partners.
All participants should arrive at the venue at least 30 minutes before the start of the race. 15 minutes before the run is time for a welcome and joint warm-up. The actual wilderness run lasts one hour. Afterwards, snacks can be provided and the best lap results shared. A total of at least two hours should be planned for the wilderness run. In addition, there is the arrival and departure.
You want to participate in the wilderness run? Brilliant! We are looking forward to you. Just send us an e-mail and write us the names of all classes that will participate.
We will create your school on Fundoo and then send you the participation links for each class. With this, the students can register in their class team and create a profile. With this they can collect sponsors.
In addition, you will receive a guide from us to help you organize the run. For questions and exchange of experiences we are always available!
You will receive a link from your teachers. With this link, you can register your class team on Fundoo and create a profile. You can then collect sponsors by sending them a message directly via Fundoo or by copying the link to your profile and contacting potential sponsors via WhatsApp or offline.
Anyone can be a sponsor. It doesn't matter if it's your parents, the bakery on your street, doctors, music teachers, trainers from the sports club or big companies.
Talk about what you learned at the lecture about the rainforest and its importance, and why you want to get involved. Ask if they would like to support you.
The search for sponsors can be tedious, because you will certainly not be successful with your request with everyone. Therefore, the motto is: Don't be discouraged, because every euro counts!
As soon as you have found enough supporters, you have to register them online via your donation page. They will then receive a donation link, which they can use to transfer the money directly to Wilderness International after the run.
Since 2008, we have already conducted more than 50 wilderness runs with over 40,000 students! Here you can find results, pictures and more info.
Science & Communication
Since my school days in Meissen, many people have known me as the "social noodle", because I have always loved to stand up for my environment and my fellow human beings. This social streak, coupled with an irrepressible curiosity, led me to travel the world and get to know it better.
I studied viticulture and noticed the serious problems facing agriculture, particularly through internships abroad in New Zealand, South Africa, France, Spain and Chile. The need to change this global exploitation of people and nature in agricultural supply chains then led me to pursue an in-depth Master's degree, which gave me the tools to understand, analyze and ultimately break through these structures. In my own scientific work, I have also dealt intensively with the topics of "carbon footprint", "processes in the Rights of Nature movement" and "philosophy of science". WI gives me the opportunity to reconcile all these interests!
I also have a 5-year-old daughter and a Chilean partner, I love the outdoors, wine, science talks and trying out new things - true to the motto "seeking discomfort".
