ABOUT THE 8TH WWC
 
Launched by The WILD Foundation in 1977, the World Wilderness Congress (WWC) is now the longest-running, public, international environmental forum. With over 25 years of conservation achievements, the WWC has become a high-profile platform for acting on complex wilderness and wildlands issues.
WWCs include senior-level representation from governments, the private sector, native peoples, non-governmental organizations, and academia, and are carefully designed to bring together the full spectrum of wilderness-related views. Broad-based participation, combined with the spirit of open and balanced debate, creates a constructive, objective oriented environment, and generates practical conservation outcomes.
The Congress convenes every three to four years around the world. Past WWCs have been held in South Africa (1977, 2001), Australia (1980), Scotland (1983), USA (1987), Norway (1993) and India (1998). The 8th WWC in 2005 will convene in Alaska with associated events in Kamchatka. WILD anticipates over 1,000 delegates from over 40 nations at the 8th WWC.
The theme of the 8th WWC is Wilderness, Wildlands and People – A Partnership for the Planet. This Congress will generate the most up-to-date information on the benefits of wilderness and wildlands to contemporary and traditional societies, and will review the best models for balancing wilderness and wildlands conservation with human needs.
The 8th WWC will include delegates from around the world, and the models, projects, data and analyses presented will be global in scope. However, the 8th WWC will also have a special focus on the wilderness, wildlands, and marine resources of Alaska, the Russian Far East, Canada, and the North Pacific, and associated events may also convene in Russia.