About Wildlife Works

Wildlife Works is a community-centered wildlife conservation company that implements market-based solutions to protect the planet's threatened wilderness and endangered wildlife. The company was founded on the belief that wildlife must benefit local communities who share their environment. Its conservation projects directly finance forest communities, enabling their economic development and preventing millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions from entering the atmosphere annually.

Its U.S. headquarters are in Mill Valley, California, with additional U.S. offices in North Carolina and Vermont and international offices in Cambodia, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Kenya, Panama, Tanzania, and the United Kingdom.

Wildlife Works offers economic solutions for environmental conservation, directly financing community conservation efforts in the world's most threatened natural habitats. The organization provides nature-based carbon credits and other tradable environment-related conservation financing units.

Current projects include protecting 300,000 hectares of rainforest at the Mai Ndombe REDD+ Project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and 200,000 hectares of dry-land forest at Kenya's Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project. The Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project supports 14,000 endangered elephants and other threatened African species like leopards, cheetahs, lions, and wild dogs.

The company employs over 1,000 people worldwide and leads the global effort in using REDD+ to combat environmental degradation and reduce emissions from deforestation. It directs millions of dollars to indigenous populations in critical forests and adjacent natural environments.

Wildlife Works ensures that communities receive payments for preserving local landscapes and promoting wildlife-friendly development. Payments include direct revenue for self-determined development plans and investments in infrastructure, education, medical care, social programs, and job funding.

History

Mike Korchinsky, an acclaimed management consultancy co-founder, established the company in 1997. The Canadian-born, U.S.-based entrepreneur aimed to preserve wildlife-rich forests by funding viable alternatives to slash-and-burn agriculture and poaching.

Korchinsky and his team built operations on the belief that wildlife must benefit local communities that share their environment. The company started with the eco-factory in Kasigau, Kenya, channeling financing from selling organic, fair-trade apparel to the local community for sustainable development and wilderness conservation. By 2008, Korchinsky and they were pioneering efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and environmental degradation using the United Nations' REDD+ initiative, which promotes the role of carbon markets in financing forest conservation efforts worldwide.

Wildlife Works continues to expand its portfolio of REDD+-funded projects and is the world's leading organization in this field.

From the Mai Ndombe REDD+ Project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project in Kenya, the company actively promotes conservation. It protects endangered species by paying forest communities for their conservation efforts.

Awards

The company has received multiple awards for its community-centered conservation efforts. Recent accolades include numerous Telly Awards for its educational films and recognition from the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance for its work in protecting biodiversity and fighting climate change.

The Telly Awards honor excellence in TV and video production. At the 45th annual Telly Awards, Wildlife Works won awards for four titles, competing against entrants like Adobe, MTV Entertainment Studios, and National Geographic.

Ongoing efforts at the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project have earned the company gold-level status from the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance for exceptional contributions to fighting climate change and protecting biodiversity.

The Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance is a partnership of leading international non-governmental organizations founded in 2003. Its mission is to promote sustainable land management activities that mitigate climate change, improve the well-being of local communities, reduce poverty, and conserve biodiversity.

Projects

Wildlife Works' current projects include large-scale undertakings in Africa, including Mai-Ndombe Province in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Kasigau Corridor in Kenya.

Mai-Ndombe REDD+ Project

Its conservation partnership with local communities and the government in Mai-Ndombe Province protects 300,000 hectares of critical bonobo and forest elephant habitat. The project also focuses on funding access to education, food security, medical care, and safe drinking water for over 50,000 individuals.

Significant strides have been made in channeling carbon finance into transformative project activities. The project has created and sustained over 300 local jobs, managing the project and engaging with communities to deploy activities chosen by committees elected by the local communities. As of 2022, carbon funds have built a new hospital and funded 18 mobile clinics delivering life-saving care for thousands of community members, especially during infectious disease outbreaks. Communities have chosen to purchase medicine, pay healthcare workers, and perform vaccinations, HIV screenings, and education programs. They have built and repaired 30 solar-powered wells in 30 villages, providing safe drinking water to tens of thousands of people. Additionally, 30 schools have been built or renovated, increasing access to quality education for thousands of children. Food security has been strengthened by 25 new fish ponds and conservation agriculture techniques.

Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project

Wildlife Works has operated at the Kasigau Corridor since the organization's launch over 25 years ago. Efforts at the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project protect over 200,000 hectares of natural habitat, which serves as a vital migration corridor between two crucial national parks home to tens of thousands of endangered elephants and other key wildlife species.

In Kasigau, the company has partnered with over 100,000 individuals from the local community to create new jobs and fund sustainable economic development. This began with the company's eco-factory.

The project now employs over 450 people, more than 90% from the local community, and one-third are women. Sustainable jobs created include protecting wildlife, creating eco-crafts, managing the project, and producing eco-charcoal. As of 2023, 65 women's groups representing over 1,800 women across the project area have gained access to economic alternatives for sustainable livelihoods through traditional crafts. As of 2022, communities have used carbon revenue to renovate 36 schools, build 10 new schools, and award over USD 1.2 million for 30,000+ bursaries. These investments show transformative, generational effects, with students returning to their communities as teachers, nurses, doctors, and business owners. Carbon revenues have funded over 50 water projects, improving access to clean water for over 100,000 people. Communities have also renovated a diagnostic health laboratory and established after-school health education programs for over 1,200 students.

Upcoming Projects

In addition to the Mai-Ndombe REDD+ Project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project in Kenya, Wildlife Works has projects in development on South America's Pacific Coast, in the Amazon rainforest, and elsewhere around the world. Find out more at WildlifeWorks.com/REDD-Projects.