It all started with the enthusiasm for forests with huge trees...
Back then, 26 people from six countries, 24 different professions and aged between 18 and 69 were united by their love for impressive, wild nature and the desire to preserve it for future generations. So they founded the environmental protection organization Wilderness International in Germany and Canada in 2008. In 2019, we added the Peruvian organization.
Today, Wilderness International consists of three sister foundations with one great goal: to protect the last unique wilderness areas forever.
But above all, the three organizations work together on an international level for wilderness protection, environmental education and reserach. In addition, we always register all three foundations on every land title - to strengthen the security of protection.
The Wilderness International team dedicates its daily work to the legally secure purchase of ecologically valuable and acutely threatened wilderness areas around the world in order to protect them in perpetuity.
Protect wilderness areas from vanishing forever and preserve them for future generations.
Bill Murray
GHOSTBUSTER
We still have the opportunity to save the last wilderness areas on earth. This knowledge and the enthusiasm for fantastic nature drive us to make our mission a reality, step by step.
By 2050, protect the last 2.8% of our planet's remaining intact habitats through legally secure purchase.
Bill Murray
GHOSTBUSTER
The team of our three foundations always consists of a foundation board (controlling function), a board of directors (responsible for projects) and an operative team as well as many volunteers.
Wild nature is a source of inspiration for me and I feel at home there. Next to a huge tree in the old-growth forest, on the foggy riverbank or sitting on a mountain - nature helps to recharge my batteries and to experience small and big wonders. In the last 20 years I have seen whole forest landscapes disappear, cities and roads have covered lakes and valleys. Pristine nature is becoming rarer by the year - at a frightening rate that compels action. I love nature and, as part of Wilderness International, I want to fight to ensure that our Earth will continue to be one thing: Wild and beautiful.
Having grown up in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest, nature has inspired me since childhood. That's why I also did my bachelor's degree in forestry in Peru and then my master's degree in forest ecology in Germany, where I...
I grew up in rural western Canada and know that I was very fortunate to enjoy the freedom of the outdoors, hiking, camping and horseback riding. This is how my identity has evolved over my lifetime, deeply connected to nature and wild spaces. I feel joy and freedom whenever I experience something new or unexpected in the beauty of nature and the world around me....
Already since the 5th grade I enthusiastically participated in the rainforest runs and listened to the lectures about ancient giant forests. When I later read about the expedition to Toba Valley, I saw my chance had come to see and explore this wonderful foreign world with my own eyes. The people and experiences during the expedition were so positively impressive that I decided to do a year of volunteer service, which turned into two. During this time, an extraordinary project focus developed: the preparation of a cultural and conservation expedition with Germans and Gwich'in First Nations in the Canadian West Arctic!
My joining Wilderness International was definitely a happy coincidence - in the right place at the right time, with the right people on a mission to protect wild nature. A Peruvian friend had introduced me to Fabian Mühlberger in 2018, whereupon...
I am the first forest ranger of Wilderness International.
I've always wanted a job with meaning. And since having children, it has become even more important to me to do my part to effectively do good for our planet. At Wilderness International, I get to work in a very dedicated team that has been very open and welcoming to me. In addition, the communication here is respectful and honest, and there is a constant desire to develop. I get to do very different tasks: Coordinating our dedicated volunteers, organizing events, and keeping track of our daily office tasks. This suits my nature perfectly, and as a result I get to see very concrete successes of our work on a regular basis.
Sustainable change only happens from the bottom up and out of personal conviction. I believe in that. That's what motivated me to join WI in Dresden as a volunteer 10 years ago. Nature conservation is an essential basic attitude for every human being. The preservation of biodiversity and the so fragile ecological balance, the preservation of traditional places of living, which protect the climate as well as the culture of indigenous people, the protection of habitats, the prevention of worldwide migration based on hunger and poverty, the reduction of CO2 emissions: All this and much more is contained in the buzzword nature conservation. Making this tangible for individuals and motivating both them and entire companies to do so has excited me since my early years at WI. I started with networking and supporting projects with students and young people. The course of my illness gave me additional time for reflection and showed me what a treasure my own family is, with all its resources and what is worth preserving. So I am now fit in preserving and enjoy that very much. Since my disability, I have been able to invest the time available to me in a focused manner in my tasks at WI. I would like to continue to shape and deepen this. With transparency. With fun. With WI.
Old as a tree, I would like to be.
During our fleeting human lives, we can only protect a tree in the short term. Therefore, we want to create structures that guarantee the protection of these ancient beings for generations to come - regardless of political changes.
A foundation is the most long-term organizational concept currently known. Not even states, companies or national parks are designed for such a long term. Numerous foundations are very old, in some cases over a thousand years old. This makes the foundation the only one that is oriented toward the lifespan of the ecosystems we protect.
Like no other, the legal form of the foundation allows for a (charitable) purpose to be realized permanently and independently of outside interests, thus achieving the desired effects in the long term.
Consumer Center North Rhine-Westphalia
