As a non-profit organization, we owe it to you, our donors, partners, volunteers, employees and committee members, to use our funds responsibly. Your donations should arrive directly and achieve the greatest possible success in our projects. This is the only way we can be an effective fundraising organization.
In Germany, there are no uniform disclosure requirements for nonprofit organizations. Nevertheless, we consider it important to disclose our structures, activities and finances in order to strengthen trust and credibility.
In our impact report, we show you where your donation goes. And what we have already achieved together.
View the report
View the report
In 2017, Wilderness International joined the Transparent Civil Society initiative .
In doing so, we commit ourselves to high standards of transparency, accountability and effectiveness for international NGOs. We have signed the voluntary commitment of "Transparency International e.V." to disclose our actions, in the form of 10 points.
Ten points for the public
On the initiative of Transparency Deutschland e.V., numerous actors from civil society and academia have defined ten basic points that every civil society organization should make accessible to the public. These include, among other things, the articles of association, the names of key decision-makers, and information on the source of funds, use of funds, and personnel structure.
Name: Wilderness International Foundation (WI)
Headquarters: Dresden, Berlin
Address: Grundstr.1, 01326 Dresden;
c/o Bürogemeinschaft Treibende Kraft, Wilsnacker Straße 66, 10559 Berlin
Year established: 2008
Contact: Kai Andersch, kai.andersch@wilderness-international.org
Here you can find the statutes of Wilderness International including our goals.
In addition, you can learn more about our goals in the form of mission and vision on the page"About Wilderness International".
With the certificate of the tax office Dresden I StNr 202/143/05950 from 10.02.2023 we are recognized as serving tax-privileged purposes. It is confirmed that the donation is used only for the promotion of environmental protection and nature conservation, promotion of animal welfare, promotion of education, promotion of science and research, promotion of international understanding, and promotion of development aid.
Here you can find the current exemption certificate of Wilderness International (valid until 09.02.2028).
The Board of Trustees is composed as follows:
Stephan Hürten (Chairman), Dr. Steffen Kolschmann (Vice Chairman), Marit Richter, Sandra Zügge, Vera Phillips, Charlotte Voigt, Anton Kamolz, Thomas Mach, Carina Büder
The Executive Board of the Foundation is composed as follows:
Kai Andersch (Chairman), Jürgen Thiele (Chief Financial Officer), Ronny Scholz (Projects)
Timeframe: January to June 2023
10 full-time equivalent staff, approximately 25 volunteers
Kai Andersch: Chairman of the Board
Jürgen Thiele: Chief Financial Officer
Ronny Scholz: Director Projects, People&Culture
Tom Andersch: Geocoordinates
Henriette Wessel: Communication
Friederike Klasen: Communication
Huu Nguyen: Teamlead Product & Development
Larissa Knauf: Coordination CO2 Calculator and CO2 Compensation
Leon Köpke: Coordination CO2 calculator and CO2 compensation
Johann-Georg Cyffka: Cooperations, Networking Sustainability and CO2 Partnerships
Tina Oldenburg: Payment
Marten Gierth: FÖJ
Ludian Jahnke: ÖBFD
Leoni Thieme: FÖJ
Claudia Römer: Accounting
Jan Großmann: Finances
Fee
Marie Luise Grübler: Google Ads
Jan Luther: IT
Lukas Dürnegger: Media
Manuela Child: SEO
Michael Schade: Google Analytics
Chris Kirkby: WI Peru
Marco Lou: WI Canada
Studio Good: Design
Philipp Züchner: IT
Dung Nguyen: Backend Developer
Ha Nguyen: Quality Management
Lai Ho: Frontend Developer
Nhut Ma: Backend Developer
Tin Huynh: Backend Developer
Volunteers
Tino Kreßner: IT
Pascal Cürsgen: Lyrics
Tobias Hürten: WI Canada
Henri Bisch-Chandaroff: Education
Daphne Siekmann: People&Culture
Robert Pohle: Media&Design
Ulrich Henrik Streckenbach: Media&Design
Fabian Mühlberger: Photos&Education
Ulrike Pröschild: Social Media
Chris Ketola: Social Media
Our balance sheet and P&L from 2020.
For timeliness: Until now, we have only published our reports every two years to save costs. The financials for 2021 will be available this July.
Wilderness International is not a subsidiary organization of any other entity, nor is it otherwise affiliated with any third party under corporate law.
The German foundation works in close partnership with its sister organizations Wilderness International (Canada), a Canadian NGO based in Stony Plain near Edmonton, Canada, and Wilderness International Peru, based in Puerto Maldonado, Peru.
Since 2015, DIAMIR Adventure Travel has taken responsibility for the nature consumption of its trips and has contributed more than 10% to the annual budget of Wilderness International each year from 2015-2019. There were no other legal entities with more than 10% annual budget contributions in 2008-2023.
What percentage of my donation really arrives?
Thanks to our corporate partners, we can protect more nature than would otherwise be possible. At the same time, we are thus implementing sustainability in our core business.
How are our three sister foundations connected and what makes each one special? Who are we, the Wilderness International team?
How we find, purchase, protect long-term, and use wilderness areas for environmental education and research.
95% of your donations go directly to forest conservation and related environmental education and research. Our administrative cost ratio is only 5%.
The Foundation Board and Executive Board decided in March 2015 that Wilderness International will not apply for the DZI donation seal, but will instead join the Transparent Civil Society Initiative. The decision is based, among other things, on the recommendations for action contained in the master's thesis of our long-time Foundation Board President Ellen Weiland on the topic of "Responsible Management in the Foundation Sector - Derivation of a Recommendation for Action Using the Example of Wilderness International".
Key points that speak against applying for the DZI donation seal:
"In addition to an investigation of how the trust relationship between the stakeholders and the foundation stands, the question of whether it is ethically correct to spend a portion of the collected donations on the costs of applying for the DZI donation seal had to be clarified. From the point of view of the foundation's management, this is tantamount to misappropriation, since the management has a very specific and correct responsibility to use the donated funds for the intended purpose, and should not incur costs for this in the form of time and resources for submitting the manifold documents that would be required for an application for the donation seal." - Ellen Weiland, Responsible Management in the Foundation Sector - Derivation of a Recommendation for Action Using the Example of Wilderness International.
In addition, there are also large, very well-known associations recognized as charities that do not have a DZI donation seal, such as BUND, WWF and Grüne Liga.
All future costs are already included in the donation for protection per square meter. The costs after the purchase of the land are only small, for example for forest wardens in Peru or expeditions for control, research, environmental education and communication. We do not interfere with nature and do not make any changes in the forest. We already finance most of the land taxes for our protected areas from the annual income of Wilderness International's capital stock.
We do this with 1€ donation (figures are based on real expenses since foundation):
38 Cent: Land purchase and purchase process
In addition to the costs for the purchase of the land, this also includes costs for the notary and the land register entry as well as property taxes.
19 Cent: Land acquisition preparation - find, research and document relevant conservation areas.
In rapid assessments, we work with researchers to determine the area's biodiversity and CO2 storage capacity. Aerial photos from drones help us to document the areas.
20 cents: Environmental education and communication
This part goes directly into our projects such as wilderness runs and environmental education projects with schools, workshops and our web platform.
18 cents: Long-term protection and research
Through regular visits, local partnerships, and forest rangers, the ecological integrity of the areas is monitored and ensured. Environmental ambassadors and scientists visit the areas, conduct research together, and experience the forest they protect.
5 cents: Administrative costs
Numerous donations in kind also enable us to keep costs for equipment and events low. For example, companies support our wilderness runs and other activities with water, food, tables, transportation rentals, public transportation tickets, and communication. We also often receive donations of equipment, clothing and food for our expeditions.
The land is purchased by our three sister foundations, Wilderness International Germany, Wilderness International (Canada) and Wilderness International Peru by land registration. Thus, the sole right of disposal lies with Wilderness International. Our statutes stipulate with the purpose of the foundation that the land will be left untouched and will only be visited for research and documentation purposes. They cannot be resold. The foundation concept prevents the rights over the disposition of property from resting with any one person. Rather, the foundation and thus its land always belong to all the people involved in the foundation at the time.
Together with our conservation experts and scientific partners such as the Environmental Research Center Leipzig (UFZ), the Senckenberg Natural History Collections and others, we select the land according to its particular need for protection. The decisive factors are species diversity, biomass and acute threat.
Rapid Assessments
Learn more under " How we protect forest
Our major project, international wilderness protection, is put into practice step by step every day in a wide range of projects. Whether it is the exploration of new and existing protected areas or the deployment of our forest rangers, the cooperation with schools in environmental education and wilderness running or the commitment on the doorstep with tree planting campaigns.
Suite 346, Southpark Drive
Stony Plain, AB, T7Z2A9
Canada
We are registered with the Canada Revenue Agency.
