The Nature Conservation Subscription

Wilderness International is a non-profit environmental organisation with a single goal: to protect the Earth’s last remaining unique forests and wilderness areas for ever. To this end, Wilderness International purchases plots of land through registration in the land register, thereby ensuring their legally secure and permanent protection. The land purchases are funded by donations towards so-called ‘wilderness sponsorships’. Wilderness sponsors receive a personalised certificate stating the exact geographical coordinates of the protected area of woodland.

WI Germany and WI Canada were founded in 2008 by 25 people from six countries, representing 24 different professional fields and aged between 18 and 69. In 2019, the Peruvian organisation dedicated to protecting the tropical rainforest joined the network. Today, Wilderness International consists of three sister foundations: 

Behind Wilderness International Germany, in addition to the founding donors, are eight members of the Board of Trustees, three members of the Executive Board, our operational team, many volunteers and countless donors, partners, sponsors and supporters. You can find out more on the “Wilderness International Germany” page.

At Wilderness International Canada, alongside Tobias Hürten and Kai Andersch, Marco Lou, Tyler Bruce and Stephen Gabrysh also work directly on the ground to manage our partnerships, land acquisitions, expeditions and the protection of our forest areas. Volunteers, donors and supporters are also actively involved here. You can find out more under “Wilderness International Canada”.

At Wilderness International Peru, the seven founders form the board of trustees. On the ground, the organisation’s president, Dr Chris Kirkby, works alongside a team of forest rangers and the rest of the operational team to oversee the protected areas, carry out research and biodiversity monitoring in the forests, the search for and purchase of new plots of land, and projects with local schools, communities and partners. You can find more information on the “Wilderness International Peru” page.

We focus on immediate, tangible impact: protecting irreplaceable old-growth forests and wilderness through direct, permanent land ownership. Here is what makes our approach unique:

• Direct & traceable ownership: Every dollar donated permanently protects a specific square meter of forest. Donors receive exact GPS coordinates and georeferenced aerial images of the precise area they helped secure.
• Permanent legal protection: Instead of short-term leases or 30-year conservation agreements, we secure full legal title to the land, protecting these ecosystems for centuries, not just decades.
• Complete transparency & hands-on control: We manage the entire process ourselves without middlemen—from scientific evaluation and land purchase to ranger patrols and biodiversity monitoring.
• Low overhead: Backed by a dedicated volunteer network, our administrative costs consistently stay below 10% (and often under 5%), ensuring the vast majority of your donation goes directly into forest protection.
• Science-backed impact: We partner with leading international research institutions and conduct our own on-the-ground expeditions to monitor biodiversity and carbon sequestration.
• Solutions-focused: We motivate through positive action, enthusiasm, and tangible solutions rather than fear-based messaging.

In March 2015, our Foundation Council and Executive Board decided that Wilderness International would not apply for the DZI charity seal, but would instead join the Transparent Civil Society Initiative. This decision is based, amongst other things, on the recommendations for action set out in the master’s thesis by our long-standing Chair of the Foundation Board, Ellen Weiland, on the topic of ‘Responsible Management in the Foundation Sector – Deriving Recommendations for Action Using Wilderness International as a Case Study’.

Key points arguing against applying for the DZI donation seal:

• Misallocation of donation funds to cover the costs of applying for certification
• a high workload and financial burden for a small foundation run like an NGO

“In addition to examining the state of the relationship of trust between the stakeholders and the foundation, it was necessary to clarify whether it is ethically correct to spend part of the donations collected on the costs of applying for the DZI Donation Seal. From the foundation management’s perspective, this amounts to a misuse of funds, as the management fulfils its responsibility to use the donated funds for their intended purpose in a very specific and correct manner and should not have to allocate any costs in the form of time and resources to submitting the extensive documentation required for an application for the donation seal.” – Ellen Weiland, Senior Manager in the Charitable Sector – Deriving a recommendation for action using Wilderness International as an example

Furthermore, there are also large, very well-known organisations recognised as charitable that do not hold a DZI donation seal, such as BUND, WWF and Grüne Liga.

Since 2023, however, we have held the PHINEO Wirkt! seal, of which we are very proud. Find out more here: What is the PHINEO Wirkt! seal?

To reassess our impact, we also commissioned a comprehensive process assessment from BAUM e.V. in the spring of 2025. BAUM is a non-profit business network in Europe that advocates for sustainable business practices and climate protection. The assessment was carried out by Rainer Kant, a qualified forester and Senior Advisor for Biodiversity and Ecosystems at BAUM e.V., one of Germany’s leading sustainability experts in this field. You can find out more about the assessment here.

In Canada, we are aided by the high level of legal certainty – or rather, the legal framework – and the penalties, which even prohibit trespass, as well as the cultural and historical significance of property.

In Peru, we have also launched a programme for forest guardians in collaboration with local people. We have put several measures in place to ensure long-term protection. Generally, we visit the areas on regular expeditions to check that everything is in order. We also work with local partners who inform us of any issues that may arise. The donations per square metre also already include the costs of property tax.

The legal form of the foundation, unlike any other, allows a (charitable) purpose to be realised permanently and independently of external interests, thereby achieving the desired long-term effects. It is thus the most long-term organisational structure currently known. Not even states, companies or national parks are designed with such a long-term perspective. This makes the foundation the only organisation oriented towards the lifespan of the ecosystems we protect.

We are absolutely convinced that it is only by working together with the local communities that we can sustainably protect the primeval forests in Canada and Peru. We are also committed to social sustainability and therefore involve as many stakeholders as possible in forest conservation. 

Local projects in Peru increase acceptance amongst landowners and offer them the opportunity to continue supporting the region’s natural environment in the future. We have also set up a forest ranger programme with local people. Our Forest Guardians regularly patrol the forest areas, ensure their protection, maintain contact with the local community, and, together with our researchers, develop environmental education materials and assist with biodiversity monitoring. To protect the Madre de Dios region sustainably, minimise the causes of deforestation and develop alternative sources of income together with local families, we launched our agroforestry project in December 2023 and joined forces with two local agroforestry pioneers – Camino Verde and Fundo Ten Paciencia. The aim of the project is to provide farmers with training on agroforestry and sustainable farming practices. In addition, the WI Peru team has launched an environmental education project designed to instil in local people a greater understanding of and enthusiasm for the rainforest and its inhabitants, and to provide them with reasons why it is important to actively protect this fragile ecosystem. This includes themed events in towns and communities, various projects in schools, and visits by schoolchildren directly to our research station in the Secret Forest.

In Canada, our existing protected areas are uninhabited, as they are quite isolated. The Wilderness International Canada team consists mainly of Canadians who are also promoting environmental education and our conservation goals within the country, for example through partnerships with organisations such as whale-watching agencies, which raise awareness of complex ecological interrelationships, or other local research or nature conservation organisations. In the past, we have organised environmental ambassador programmes, through which German school pupils were able to engage with local people and First Nations on environmental protection issues. We hope to be able to resume these programmes in the future. 

Looking ahead, we do not rule out the possibility of jointly purchasing plots of land for nature conservation in partnership with Indigenous peoples or First Nations in Canada. It is very important to us that this collaboration takes place on an equal footing. Of course, we would never displace anyone from their homeland for the sake of nature conservation. If our approach helps local people (whether Indigenous or not) to combine environmental protection with their traditions, ways of life and sustainable livelihoods, then we see such collaborations as a wonderful opportunity to generate synergies.

The involvement of local communities in our projects is also highlighted by Rainer Kant of BAUM e.V. in his independent process assessment: “The integrative approach is evident in the way Wilderness International links various sectors of society: environmental and climate protection are combined with educational work, technological innovations and economic financing models. Businesses, schools, researchers and local indigenous communities are actively involved, thereby creating synergies between civil society, business and academia.”

You can cancel your subscription yourself via your donation portal. To do so, request a link here, select your donation, click on ‘Your documents’ and then on ‘Payment’ in the top-left menu. There you can edit and cancel your subscription – just click on the pencil icon.

You can also temporarily pause your subscription or adjust the donation amount. Simply send us an email at kontakt@wilderness-international.org.