Held in October, 1977, in Johannesburg, South Africa, with 2,500 delegates from 27 countries. Proceedings: Voices of the Wilderness, edited by Ian Player and published by Jonathan Ball, 1978.

• Introduced the wilderness concept as an international issue of importance, whereas formerly it had been only an issue of western cultures

• Presented programs for integrating cultures and races around the world in nature conservation

• Incorporated economics and banking for the first time as major issues on the conservation agenda

• Presented the largest exhibition of conservation art ever held to date in Africa • Prompted production of major BBC film, Zululand Wilderness: The Black Umfolozi Rediscovered.

Held in June, 1980, in Queensland, Australia, with 1,000 delegates from 25 countries. Proceedings: Wilderness, edited by Vance Martin and published by Findhorn Press, 1981.

• Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser recommended the Great Barrier Reef as suitable for inclusion on World Heritage list and, subsequently, specific areas were brought under protection and management of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.

• Areas of virgin rainforest in Queensland were protected under park status by the Premier of Queensland.

• The 2nd WWC cultural program focused on contemporary Australian nature art, as well as on the dance, song and artwork of the Aboriginal culture.

• Bob Brown (President of Tasmanian Wilderness Society) brought, for the first time, international attention to the issue of wilderness conservation in Tasmania. This issue, concerning dams and hydroelectricity, later was a critical factor in the election of the new Labor government under Prime Minister Bob Hawke.

• The need to employ Aboriginal people in the Park Service, and utilize aboriginal knowledge in nature conservation programs, was recommended.

Held in October, 1983 in Inverness and Findhorn, Scotland, with 600 delegates from 25 countries. Proceedings: Wilderness: The Way Ahead, edited by Martin and Inglis, published by Findhorn & Lorian Press, 1984.

• Mrs. Thatcher's government (through the Secretary of State for Scotland, George Younger) formally announced for the first time their ratification of the World Heritage Convention. Congress delegates recommended that the Cairngorm Plateau in Scotland be included on the Register.

• Prompted formation of the Wilderness Associazione Italiana (Italian Wilderness Association), which is successfully establishing the wilderness concept and working for wilderness legislation in Italy.

• Barry Cohen (Minister of Environment, Australia) reported on developments in Australia since the 2nd WWC, with special reference to his government not allowing the Tasmanian dams to proceed, thereby protecting the Southwest Tasmanian Wilderness.

• Contemporary and historical nature art from around the world complemented the working sessions, in which concerned activists from India, the Navajo Nation and elsewhere met with resource developers and policymakers.

• Continued to emphasize the need for a cultural and ethical dimension to conservation planning and policy making. (This concept has finally been acknowledged in the scientific arena by formation of a new commission within the World Conservation Union.) • Professor C.A. Meier (Switzerland), colleague and friend of the late Carl Gustav Jung, made the first address to an international conservation conference by a leading psychologist. Prompted establishment of the Wilderness Action Group in South Africa to advocate for wilderness legislation.

• The published proceedings were formally recognized by the British Council as one of the exemplary books published in the United Kingdom in 1984.

Held in September, 1987 in Denver and Estes Park, Colorado, United States, with 2,000 delegates from 64 countries. Proceedings: For the Conservation of Earth, edited by Vance G. Martin, published by Fulcrum, Inc., 1988.

• Proposed the establishment of a World Conservation Bank, or Fund, the first call for new conservation finance mechanisms, which eventually led to the $1.1 billion Global Environment Facility of the World Bank.

• U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, James Baker, was the first finance minister to open a major conservation conference, calling for integration of economics and environment.

• The first World Wilderness Inventory, prepared for the WWC by the Sierra Club.

• Continued to advocate inclusion of wilderness as a separate and specific classification under the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Categories of Protected Areas, which was accepted by the IUCN in 1990.

• Resubmitted to the British government the resolution to consider the Cairngorm Plateau for listing as a World Heritage Site (to preserve its valuable wilderness characteristics), a process which was then begun by the British government in 1990.

• First proposal for a World Conservation Corps, or Service, as an avenue for effective, public environmental action.

Held in September 1993, in Tromsø, Norway, with 600 delegates from 25 countries. Proceedings: Arctic Wilderness, edited by Vance G. Martin and Nicholas Tyler, published by North American Press, 1995.

• Strengthened the wilderness concept in the circumpolar development debate, advocating specific legislation to protect wilderness areas and values while recognizing sustainable use by indigenous cultures.

• Introduced the concept of sustainable living as an evolution of the sustainable development debate.

• Produced for action over 30 resolutions dealing with global issues of wildlands and wildlife, sustainable benefits for local people, and numerous scientific and policy matters.

• Presented the first inventory of Wild Rivers of the North.

• Provided environmental guidelines for the Arctic cooperation and economic development strategy of the Northern Forum, an association of 20 regions and states in the circumpolar north.

Convened in October, 1998, in Bangalore, India, with 700 delegates from 30 nations. Chairman: Mr. M.A. Partha Sarathy. Proceedings: Wilderness and Humanity: The Global Issue, Vance Martin and Partha Sarathy, eds., Fulcrum Press, Golden, Colorado, 2001.

• Asian Wilderness Initiative - Introduced the concept of designated, protected wilderness areas to Asia, where no such protected-area status had currently existed. Launched the Asian Wilderness Initiative, to recommend a policy structure and framework for such recognition and designation

• Wild Rivers, A Global Inventory - For the first time, a comprehensive inventory of the remaining wild rivers of the world was produced. Mr. Michael McCloskey (Chairman, Sierra Club) presented this pioneer study, the result of four years of work.

• Cheetah: Reintroduction in India - After thorough discussion, this joint effort with Namibia (Africa) was encouraged and endorsed, and will be pursued by numerous non-governmental organizations within India.

• Marine Wilderness - A pioneering concept was launched to recognize and better protect the unique values and attributes of wilderness on and within the high seas.

• 28 targeted resolutions were presented to the Congress and unanimously approved.

Convened in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, November, 2001, with 600 delegates from 44 nations. Chairman: Mr. Murphy Morobe. Proceedings: Wild Nature and Human Communities, Vance G. Martin and Andrew Muir, eds., Fulcrum Press, Golden, Colorado, in press.

• The 7th World Wilderness Congress was one of the first international conferences to convene in the aftermath of the September, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York. In the midst of a high security system provided by the South African government, the 600 delegates from 44 nations were upbeat and productive, yielding a long list of practical accomplishments while generating a tangible spirit of cooperation and optimism.

• Private Sector Wilderness -- Planned and announced the first wilderness area (with management plan and under legal servitude to a conservation NGO, on privately-owned land in Africa (on Shamwari Game reserve, Eastern Cape, South Africa)

• Grants to African Wildland Projects -- The Global Environmental Facility announced two, $1 million dollar grants to the Baviaanskloof Mega Wilderness Complex (South Africa) and to the Kissama National Park (Angola)

• Tropical Forests -- US Congressman E. Clay Shaw announced the imminent introduction into the US Congress of a bill addressing the need to stem the tide of unsustainable logging of tropical forests, using a number of different financial mechanisms such as debt swaps, buy-back of logging rights, etc.

• Wilderness Management Training -- Provided specific, professional training for wilderness managers and advocates from 13 nations

• New Funding for Conservation Education -- Johnnic Communications announced that Conservation Education would become one of its major areas of corporate philanthropy in South Africa.

The 8th World Wilderness Congress met for nearly two weeks in Anchorage, Alaska from late September to early October, 2005, bringing together 1,200 delegates from up to 60 nations.

• Ernesto Enkerlin (President of CONAP, National Commission for Protected Areas in Mexico) announced that “wilderness” will be a new official category within Mexico’s protected areas framework.

• The 8th WWC continued the WWC commitment to creating targeted, collaborative professional networks. The Wilderness Policy Council (a US federal, inter-agency group) convened the first Global Wilderness Seminar for Government Agencies, involving 150 participants, the result of which was a new network of government agency professionals and wilderness managers to share information and techniques in safeguarding wilderness on public lands. View 8th WWC website

• The CEMEX corporation announced the designation of the El Carmen Wilderness Area on critical biodiversity habitat owned by the corporation in northern Mexico. A management plan was developed with CEMEX partners Sierra Madre, Conservation International, Birdlife, The WILD Foundation and others.

• Vie Sauvage and the Bonobo Conservation Initiative jointly announced the designation of The Bonobo Peace Forest Initiative in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

• The Mantis Collection, one of South Africa’s premiere tourism companies, announced the designation of a new private sector wilderness on their property Sanbona, in the succulent Karoo biome.

• The WILD Planet Fund, a funding mechanism for the Wild Planet Project which aims to clearly articulate the economic, biological and social benefits of intact wilderness.

• New inventories and definitions of freshwater and marine wilderness.

• The formation of the Native Lands and Wilderness Council and the International League of Conservation Photographers.

• The Umzi Wethu Training Academy for Displaced Youth addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa.

• Numerous accredited training programs for professionals, scientists, managers and youth prior to and during the Congress.

• 49 resolutions addressing a broad range of conservation concerns.

• Partial and full scholarships for Alaskans attending the Congress.

• Free international film festival, “Nature Screen.”

• Lasting gift to anchorage of public sculpture by local artist, Rachelle Dowdy.