At One TV - Leader Series

The Wilderness Foundation is one of the founder members of At One - a coalition of youth development organisations - and we thought their new Leader Series, a set of five interviews might inspire. One of those is with Deji Odunlami from TeachFirst:



Why do we like this one specifically? Apart from the fact that we agree with a lot of Deji says, it is especially because TeachFirst has an initiative we think the young people taking part in our trails may be interested in:




We actively encourage the sharing of wilderness experiences through writing, talks, pictures, sound - any which way one can use to get a message across - and this competition for under 18's is an ideal opportunity to get writing! http://www.teachfirst.org.uk/events/youngvoices

To what what other young people have written about wilderness, see this post or click the 'diary' label below.

Watch the rest of the interviews here: http://www.AtOne.org.uk/TV - To learn more about the At One Foundation and its work, read the launch report here.

Preparing the IUCN Programme 2009-2012

The IUCN, who the Wilderness movement engages with and supports through the Wilderness Task Force, has put out a consultation on their 2009-2012 programme which we thought might be of interest:

"The draft situation analysis that is the basis for the development of the Union’s next work programme from 2009 to 2012 is now available online. We invite your comments to improve the facts, figures and trends of this overview of the state of natural resources and their contributions to human wellbeing and development before 15 January 2007".

If you wish to comment - Visit the relevant IUCN page here.

Wilderness Foundation in The Herald

"A SANParks environmental education programme is raising awareness in an attempt to turn local communities into guardians of indigenous forests and commercial plantations.

A joint programme between Mountain to Ocean, the Wilderness Foundation and SANParks, the Khula Nam programme targets children living in communities near plantations." - Read the full story here.

International Mountain Day: Wilderness Perspective

Today's International Mountain Day - a celebration and opportunity to "reflect on the people who are directly affected by ecosystem degradation and climate change: mountain communities" as the IUCN says in their coverage.

The IUCN, who the Wilderness movement engages with and supports through the Wilderness Task Force, has been drumming up the debate around mountains with recent articles such as this one: 'Mountains Rise to Fight Climate Change'. The BBC's Planet Earth series also had an episode focusing on mountains. If you're in the UK you can re-view some of that content on-line here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/planetearth/hd/

On a linked but separate note, the forthcoming 2007 Mountain & Wilderness Medicine World Congress - which will bring together the Wilderness Medical Society (WMS) and the International Society for Mountain Medicine (ISMM) for their joint congress, migh also be of interest.

ITV Extinct Follow-up

Further to the screening of the first programme in ITV's new series Extinct, which also featured our founder, Dr Ian Player we thought we'd share the link to their interesting map of species under threat. Learn more by clicking on the thumbnail image or simply go here: http://extinct.itv.com/interactivemap/

Wilderness Foundation Founder on ITV: 7.30 pm Sat 9th Dec

ITV are screening a new series called Extinct airing at 7.30pm this Saturday 9th December.

The first programme will feature the tremendous work that Ian Player - founder of The Wilderness Foundation UK and Wilderness Leadership School - instigated to save the White Rhino from extinction. Operation Rhino, based in the Imfolozi Game Reserve in South Africa, translocated the Imfolozi White Rhino across the world to save the species.

This was what Rhodes University said about Ian Player when they conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Laws honoris causa:

"If one were to single out one person who is single-handedly responsible for whatever wilderness not only South Africa but many other countries in the world have left, it would have to be Ian Player. A generation or more before it became fashionable, Ian Player had the vision and commitment to see that environmental and conservation issues affected all South Africans and to lobby for these concerns to be amongst our national priorities. Where there was no responsible body to take up the cause of the environment, Ian Player created one! He has been actively involved for fifty years in programmes as varied as – literally – saving the white rhino from extinction and the establishment of the world-renowned Wilderness Leadership School.

Ian Player has probably done more for environmental conservation in Southern Africa than any other individual. He is an elder statesman of conservation, both nationally and internationally and has over many years brought much credit to our country. Amongst the first of South Africans with his background to see how much we all have to gain by sitting at the feet of those who have living indigenous knowledge of the land and all its denizens – and not too proud or too imprisoned by his socialisation to seek it, Ian Player has, in his turn, been instrumental in educating and influencing generations of conservationists on three continents. He has provided an outstanding example and role model of service and dedication to a cause on which the future of the human race and indeed, the planet as a whole may depend."

To read the full citation: (Word Doc on the Rhodes University website).

World AIDS Day: What we're doing

The Wilderness Foundation is active on the AIDS front in South Africa through the programme Umzi (Xhosa for 'homestead') which provides certified vocational training and internships that qualify AIDS orphans and vulnerable youth for ecotourism jobs secured through partnerships with national and provincial parks and private game reserves. You can learn more about it here.

At a virtual level we're also doing our bit - by taking part in the At One Foundation team on the World Community Grid. Do sign up and join the team!