The Wilderness Runs

Running for the rainforest!

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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!

Wilderness Run - What is it?

The Wilderness Run is a classic charity run. It offers students the opportunity to get active and get involved in protecting the world's most biodiverse rainforests and promoting a healthy climate!

You want to participate with your school? Write us a message!

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Wilderness Runs

We organized these events at various schools in Germany from 2012 to 2025.

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43.000

Students

have participated in our lectures and runs.

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1,3 Mio

m²rainforest

we were able to protect forever through the donations we received.

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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.

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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

Why should we get involved?

Only 2.8% of the Earth's land surface is still intact habitat.

Protect rainforest now

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 m²of rainforest in Peru forever!

This is how wilderness running works!

Registration
Once we have received written confirmation of your registration from your teachers, we will send you a link to our donation platform, Fundoo. There you can create your profile and enter your sponsors.

Anyone can participate—whether you attend elementary school, comprehensive school, secondary school, or high 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.
Preparation and organization
Decide on a date and a suitable location for the run, inform the whole school, organize helpers and, if you wish, music and photographers.

We will provide you with detailed instructions for the charity run.
Lectures
We explain how the wilderness run works and why and what we are committed to together: protecting valuable ecosystems.
Sponsor search
Now start looking for people who will support you with a donation for every lap you run. You can record your sponsors and donation amounts online on Fundoo. You can either enter this yourself or send out an invitation link.
Running for the wilderness
After the welcome and warm-up, you will have one hour to run as many laps as possible.
Please allow approximately 2 hours in total, including travel time.
Collect donations
Now tell your teachers how many laps you have completed. Your teachers will forward this information to us and we will inform your sponsors. They now have a few weeks to transfer their donation to us via Fundoo. You may need to remind them again.
Evaluation
All participants receive a certificate of their protected forest, and the most dedicated runners even receive prizes. Sponsors receive a donation certificate.

Download

4.37 MB | Downloads

The Wilderness Run - Info.pdf

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FAQs

Schools - How does the wilderness run work?

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.

How is the organization and implementation of the Wilderness Run financed?

The participating schools are responsible for organizing and conducting the wilderness runs themselves, but we provide clear guidelines and are always available to answer any questions or help with any problems. We take care of lectures as part of our foundation's goal of environmental education. We use the Fundoo platform for administrative processing, so that the school does not have to take care of registering sponsors, transfers, and issuing donation receipts itself. Prizes for particularly successful students and school classes are provided to us free of charge by our partners.

For teachers – How does the wilderness run itself work?

All participants should arrive at the venue at least 30 minutes before the start of the run. There will be time for a welcome and a group warm-up 15 minutes before the run. The actual wilderness run lasts one hour. Afterwards, snacks can be offered and the best lap results shared. A total of at least two hours should be planned for the wilderness run. Travel time to and from the venue should also be taken into account.

For teachers – How do I register my students for the Wilderness Run?

Just send us an email and let us know which classes will be participating. We will add your school to our donation platform Fundoo and then send you the participation links for each class. This will allow the students to register in their class team and create a profile. Then they can collect sponsors. In addition, we will provide you with a guide and communication materials to help you organize the run. We are always available to answer questions and share experiences!

For students – How does the sponsor search work?

Your teachers will give you a link that you can use to register your class team and create a profile on Fundoo, the donation platform we use to manage the wilderness runs. This will allow you to collect sponsors, whom you can either enter directly on Fundoo yourself or send an invitation to register themselves. Anyone can be a sponsor. It doesn't matter whether it's your parents, the bakery on your street, doctors, music teachers, coaches from your sports club, or large companies. Tell them what you learned during the lecture about the rainforest and its importance, and why you want to get involved. Ask them if they would like to support you.

Finding sponsors can be difficult, because you will certainly not be successful with everyone you approach. That's why the motto is: don't get discouraged, because every euro counts! Once you have found enough supporters, all you have to do is register them with Fundoo. We will then take care of processing the donation and issuing the donation receipt.

I still have questions about the process

to the FAQs

Past wilderness runs

Since 2008, we have already held more than 60 wilderness runs with over 42,000 students! Here you can find results, pictures and further information.

Wilderness Runs June 2018
Next week it's finally time again: Our wilderness run series starts. It starts on Monday 25.6. in Dresden, then Mittweida follows, and on Wednesday we round it all off in Leipzig. We are looking forward to three great days with thousands of hardworking runners, who are working for the protection of the last he
Learn more
Wilderness Runs in March - Thank you for your commitment!
The first wilderness run of the 2017 wilderness protection season took place this week. Spread over two days, about 550 students from four schools in Dresden and Pirna ran for environmental protection. We would like to thank you for your commitment and the effort you put into finding sponsors for the run.
Learn more
Successful wilderness runs in 2016
Dear Wilderness Runners and Sponsors, With the final evaluation events of the 2016 Wilderness Runs and the upcoming first runs of this year at the end of March, we are reviewing the past year and looking back at what we did together with
Learn more