Jim Prentice,
Canadian Minister of the Environment.  The Honourable Mr. Jim Prentice, one of the key players responsible for the recent declaration of the 6th largest National Park in the World (expansion of the Nahanni National Park Reserve, June 2009), will participate in WILD9.  Having just returned from rafting the wild Nahanni River, Minister Prentice confirmed his keynote presentation at WILD9 on the Canadian Government’s commitment to protecting 50% of Northern Canada as wilderness. 

Tashkã Yawanawá,
Born in the Caxinaua village of the Indigenous Territory of Gregory River, Brasil, Tashkã is a leader in the indigenous movement to secure ancestral wildlands to save traditional cultures, and devise sustainable livelihoods.   He reversed a serious cultural deterioration of his people by securing 200,000 ha of ancestral rainforest on which the tribe now lives sustainably.   With his wife, Laura (a Zapotec leader from Mexico), he founded the “Nawa Institute for Indigenous People,” which defends and protects indigenous traditional knowledge, artistry and ceremony;  and the Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Youth Alliance, which builds alliances between young people of all backgrounds. Tashkã and Laura consolidated the relationship between the Yawanawa people and Aveda Corporation, and played a leading role in the subsequent Yawanawa Cooperative, which manages the tribe’s relationships with commercial partners, setting a precedent for indigenous leadership and partnership with corporations.

Pavan Sukhdev,
Economist.  Pavan Sukhdev has been described as “A banker by day and an environmentalist by night,” (Sanctuary Magazine).  Sukhdev is a climate change expert, Founder-Director of the Green Accounting for Indian States Project and Chairman of the Conservation Action Trust.  He is also the head of Deutsche Bank’s Global Markets business in India.  Sukhdev will prent in the WILD9 plenary on using financial mechanisms to protect wilderness and biodiversity.

Father Theodore Hesburgh,
Priest of the Congregation of Holy Cross and President Emeritus of the University of Notre Dame Indiana EE.UU.  Rev. Hesburgh is an influential figure in US politics, the Catholic church and higher education.  He will speak during the plenary session on agriculture, wilderness and climate change. 


Felipe Calderon,
President of Mexico, assumed office 1 December 2006.  Felipe Calderon, current President of Mexico, the honorary host of WILD9, will welcome WILD9 delegates to Mexico during a special evening event on Friday 6 November.

Stephan Harding,
Gaia theory expert. Schumacher College.  Stephan Harding  teaches Gaia theory and deep ecology at Schumacher College in southwest England. He is the author of "Animate Earth", a book in which he explores how Gaian science can help us to develop a sense of connectedness with the 'more-than-human' world. His work is based on a careful integration of rational scientific analysis with our intuition, sensing and feeling-a vital task at this time of severe ecological crisis.

Amory Lovins,
Chairman and Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute.  Lovins is a leading expert on energy efficiency, renewable energy, climate change and much more.  One of Lovins’ most widely read books Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution (written with Paul Hawken and Hunter Lovins), proposes model for valuation of the earth’s valuable resources.   Lovins will give a plenary keynote on one of the most critical issues of our time: Climate Change.  www.rmi.org

Art Wolfe,
Conservation Photographer and member of the iLCP.  Over the course of his 30-year career Wolfe has worked on every continent and in hundreds of locations.  In 2000 Wolfe founded Wildlands Press (WP) to publish The Living Wild, which has sold more than 50,000 copies worldwide and garnered awards in Applied Arts and Graphics.  His other publications include: Africa, Edge of the Earth Corner of the Sky and Vanishing Act and Seven Summits. Wolfe has been awarded with a coveted Alfred Eisenstaedt Magazine Photography Award as well as named Outstanding Nature Photographer of the Year by the North American Nature Photography Association.  www.artwolfe.com

Thomas Mangelsen,
Conservation Photographer and member of the iLCP.  Thomas D. Mangelsen, a Nebraska native, is recognized as one of the world’s premier nature photographers. Tom’s work has also been exhibited in the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson, Wyoming, Natural History Museum in London, and King Sportsman’s Edge Gallery in New York City.  His many accolades include: Recognition as 100 most important people in photography by American Photo Magazine (2005), Honorary Fellowship from The Royal Photographic Society (2002), North American Nature Photographer Association’s (NANPA) Outstanding Nature Photographer of the Year (2000), and Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award (1994). Mangelsen’s work has been published in National Geographic, Audubon, National Wildlife, Smithsonian, Natural History, Newsweek, Wildlife Art, American Photo, Nikon World and other publications, including his work available through Images of Nature galleries.  www.mangelsen.com

Michael ‘Nick’ Nichols,
Conservation Photographer and member of the iLCP.  Michael “Nick” Nichols is a passionate photographer whose enthusiasm is infectious.  Nick is a former member of the famed cooperative Magnum Photos and currently works as a staff photographer at National Geographic. He is the author of seven books; including Brutal Kinship with Jane Goodall published by Aperture.
Nichols spent two years documenting Mike Fay’s epic Lewis and Clark style expedition to document and study Africa’s last great wild place before it disappeared at the hand of human development – Megatransect.  Due to the tremendous publicity from print, TV, and radio, Mike Fay (using Nichols photographs) was able to convince the president of Gabon to set aside 11% of his country and create 13 national parks.  Nichols has been awarded first prize for nature and environment stories in the World Press Photo competition 4 times.  www.michaelnicknichols.com

James Balog,
Conservation Photographer, Founder and Director of the Extreme Ice Survey and member of the iLCP.  James Balog has been opening doors in the field of nature photography for almost 30 years. Balog is currently pursuing groundbreaking issues with his project the Extreme Ice Survey, a photo documentation of rapidly melting glaciers due to climate change.  His images have been published in many magazines, including National Geographic, The New Yorker and Vanity Fair. Balog is also a contributing editor to National Geographic Adventure.  In 1996, Balog became the first photographer to create a series of stamps for the United States Postal Service.  He has written numerous books including Extreme Ice Now: Vanishing Glaciers and Changing Climate: A Progress Report and won numerous awards including the Leica Medal of Excellence as well as awards at World Press Photo in Amsterdam.  www.jamesbalog.com