Our Purpose

Wilderness and wildlands provide essential functions and values which help support all life. In recognition of the increasing peril to our global wilderness resource, the International Wilderness Leadership Foundation was established in the United States in 1984 to:

- Promote understanding and protection of wilderness areas and values throughout the world, through integration of the wilderness concept with other conservation and natural resource management activities; and

- Inspire and strengthen an ecological consciousness among current and future leaders in all countries.

Our Program

The IWLF is committed to increasing opportunities for individuals to be strengthened in spirit, mind, and character by personally experiencing wilderness; and to use their increased understanding to establish more environmentally sound government, business and education. Major IWLF projects include:

The World Wilderness Congress

The WWC has met on four previous occasions – Africa (1977), Australia (1980), Scotland (1983), and the United States (1987). Representatives from science, industry, government, recreation and sports, tribal groups and the arts and humanities meet to:

1. INFORM the public that protection of the environment and wild and natural areas must go hand-in-hand with industrial and commercial growth.

2. EDUCATE policy makers and conservation professionals concerning the need for international, interdisciplinary approaches to natural resource management, thereby broadening the range of cultural, scientific and economic inquiry into conservation and sustainable development issues;

3. ACT on specific, action-oriented conservation programs that promote cooperative, effective solutions to critical Worldwide Conservation challenges.

The World Conservation Bank

This international conservation banking program, under the guidance of IWLF director I. Michael Sweatman, is currently being developed. In 1987, the need for such a structure was formally cited in Our Common Future, the official report of the World Commission on Environment and Development. This recommendation has been acted upon by a consortium of international agencies headed by the United Nations Development Program. A two-year, phased program of feasibility study and implementation of pilot projects is now underway.

This project is aimed specifically at promoting national conservation strategies in developing countries and implementing practical, entrepreneurial approaches to financing natural resource conservation and preservation projects.

Wilderness Scholarship Trust

First established in 1974, in affiliation with the Wilderness Leadership School in Africa, this program supports opportunities for current and potential leaders to personally experience wilderness. In this, the IWLF has worked with organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America to identify candidates with outstanding leadership and personal abilities who would benefit from wilderness experience in small, international and multiracial groups in IWLF wilderness programs.

The Wilderness Leadership Institute

Future use and management of wilderness will increasingly demonstrate its values for science, education and personal growth. Many outdoor, adventure-based programs provide wilderness experience aimed at developing leadership qualities within individuals. This use of wilderness will be increasingly important. The IWLF is committed to