wild.org - This breath-taking video set the tone for the 8th World Wilderness Congress. Held in Anchorage, Alaska in October 2005, the 8WWC brought together nearly 1,200 delegates from 60 nations.

The 8th WWC focused on regional issues in a global context, emphasized the role of native peoples in protecting wilderness and wildlands and tackled the controversial issues of oil and gas drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and global warming.

Among the numerous practical conservation objectives achieved at the Congress were: The formation of the International League of Conservation Photographers, the announcement by CEMEX and partners of the first designated wilderness area in Latin America, the first meeting of the Native Lands and Wilderness Council and the launch of Umzi Wethu training academy for HIV/AIDS orphans and displaced youth in South Africa.

Several publications are a direct result of the 8WWC including: Wilderness, Wildlands and People; Protecting Wild Nature on Native Lands; and, Proceedings from the Science and Stewardship Symposium.

By: Dovetail Productions