Scroll through this Almost Live! section of our site and experience the Congress as it happened.  Scroll through the papers and speeches, check over the practical accomplishments for conservation… and visit the site again soon!

WORLD WILDERNESS SUMMIT HIGHLIGHTS
 2-3 November 2001

• FRIDAY

• SATURDAY

WILDERNESS WORKING SESSIONS
 5-8 November 2001

• MONDAY

• TUESDAY

• WEDNESDAY

• THURSDAY 

World Wilderness Summit Highlights

With 700 delegates from over 44 nations the World Wilderness Summit has been incredibly productive. Opened by the Minister of Environment of South Africa, our host country, here is a brief list of our accomplishments in the World Wilderness Summit after our first two days:

Global Environmental Facility announces two new grants to assist wilderness and wildlands conservation

• $1,000,000 to South Africa for the Baviaanskloof ("Baboon's Ridge") Wilderness Area -- $1,000,000 to Angola to assist the Kissama Foundation work to rehabilitate Angola's Kissama National Park

Private Sector Wilderness

• The first wilderness area on private property in Africa -- legally declared and with a wilderness management plan -- was announced by Adrian Gardiner, owner of Shamwari Game Reserve in the Eastern Cape Province, near Port Elizabeth. Mr Gardiner put 16% of his land, over 3,000 hectares (7,500 acres) under legal servitude to the Wilderness Foundation of South Africa, founded by Ian Player and headed by Andrew Muir.

New Wilderness Legislation and Protected Areas -- Namibia announces:

• new, national, wilderness legislation, and

• proposed plans for a new Wilderness National Park in SW Namibia.

• Proposed three nation, transfrontier, desert wilderness, stretching from Northern Cape Province of South Africa, all the way through Namibia, into
  Southern Angola

Two new fundraising strategies for African Protected Areas

• My Acre of Africa --new strategy launched --- internet-based, public fundraising strategy for Southern African parks, protected areas and local communities (www.myacreofafrica.com)

•  African protected Areas  Initiative -- new strategy announced -- to be developed and launched at 5th World Parks Congress in Durban in June 2003, this is an initiative of numerous internationals agencies, funders, and NGO's to address the need for more finance for all African protected areas.

Conservation Education, Private Sector Support

• Johnnic Holdings Ltd, South Africa's media giant and largest black-controlled company, announced that Conservation Education is now one of only two top priorities in its corporate social and community outreach programme.

Professional Training

• 20 wildlands managers and wardens from 13 countries graduated from a special training course on wilderness management, associated with the 7th WWC.

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.