At WILD9, the first international agreement on wilderness conservation was initiated by WILD and signed by the governments of Mexico, Canada and the US.  This collaborative agreement resulted in six working groups with representatives from each country working on:

• Marine Wilderness;
• Wilderness areas manager network, mentoring, training & exchange;
• Transboundary areas involving public lands with wilderness characteristics;
• Valuing ecosystem services from wilderness & payment mechanisms; 
• Visitor experience; and,
  
• Ecological monitoring.

In its role as the facilitator of this agreement, WILD prepared a briefing booklet for the working groups and hosted four of the agency directors plus two agency leads at the recent International Conservation Caucus Foundation U.S. Congressional Gala in September 2010.

Following the formation of the International League of Conservation Writers at WILD9, the founding group started reaching out to other conservation writers.  The ILCW now has a strong group of 57 members from 8 countries and is looking to build membership internationally. 

The ILCW is developing a website for members to visit regularly - with exciting and valuable content and a place to post their own news about projects and samples of their writing.  The website will also be marketed to outside professionals for connecting and engaging with members for writing projects in magazines and other media.

Membership is open to any creative professional who writes, or creates, to inspire the love of nature and a passion for its protection. In addition to writers ILCW members are musicians, cartoonists, playwrights, screenwriters, painters, poets, etc.

Visit the ILCW website or contact Patty Maher for more information.

At WILD9, we gathered a fantastic group of emerging leaders from all over the world.  We heard from these young leaders that they wanted to create a network that:

• provides information about jobs and events;
• connects them with peers and senior leaders;
• shares information;
• is a resource for professional development opportunities.

So, we've started a "Youth and Young Leader Digest."  Each month, we will compile contributions from young and established leaders alike on opportunities or announcements for young leaders, intergenerational collaboration and updates on projects involving young leaders.

photo (c) Patricio Robles Gil

The "Message from Merida," signed by nearly 90 organizations and 400 individuals, was designed as an international call to action with specific policy guidelines to integrate and prioritize wilderness and biodiversity conservation into global climate change strategy.

Following WILD9, WILD presented the "Message from Merida" to government delegates and circulated through NGO networks and other decision makers.  We also brought the conversation of wilderness and climate change to the Copenhagen climate negotiations in December 2009.

Working with the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Secretariat, we promoted wilderness and wilderness protected areas within CBD meetings. Specifically, we organized a workshop in Costa Rica and an event at the Nagoya CBD conference (October 2010) on an innovative approach to combining wilderness conservation, biodiversity protection, and climate change mitigation and adaptation benefits.

Working with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), we integrated key elements of the Message from Merida  into IUCN's policy statements.