WCS protects the Last of the Wild—large expanses of relatively intact habitat that retain their natural biodiversity. While human impact has traditionally been low in these places, today human influence is expanding, creating new challenges for conservation around the globe.
Climate change threaten seven the most intact systems. Global markets continue to expand their reach. The quest for oil, gas, and minerals requires the development of infrastructure that exposes once-wild areas to human settlement and agricultural expansion. These threats are both larger and more dynamic than traditional threats to wildlife. As a result, we must continually search for creative solutions that balance increasing pressures for the land and resources necessary for economic development with the need to ensure that we maintain the integrity of natural systems required to support that development, and realize our mission to save wildlife and wild places.
- Integrating our work across spatial scales: from the village or community level to land and seascapes, to national government planning, and to global or multinational policy forums.
- Bringing together public and private actors to collaborate on conservation solutions that create sustainable enterprises.
- Offering conservation solutions that are sustainable for wildlife and the development aspirations of people and communities living in and around the areas supporting wildlife.
- Proactively integrating future scenarios of climate change, population growth, and economic development into everything we do to ensure our conservation activities are durable, our solutions are optimal, and that we and our partners are nimble in adapting to new threats.
For more information about the WCS Global Initiatives, please visit globalinitiatives.wcs.org