Wildlife Conservation Network

Abstract

The future of endangered species depends on choices people make all over the world, but ultimately local solutions, developed with, by and for people who share land and resources with those animals, are paramount. The success of these local efforts is largely affected by the presence and effectiveness of a few entrepreneurial and passionate individuals, who live and work with local communities to develop and implement strategies for wildlife and people to coexist and thrive. This is not a small task, as the challenges in the field are numerous and daunting. Success is far from guaranteed, especially because in most instances, these conservation heroes largely operate on their own, with little to no organizational support. Successful business entrepreneurs Charles Knowles and Akiko Yamazaki along with conservationist John Lukas identified this gap as an opportunity to enhance efforts to save animals in wild places. With that idea in mind, they founded the Wildlife Conservation Network (WCN) in 2002 to provide support to independent field-based conservation entrepreneurs who make a real difference for wildlife conservation.