The delegates from more than 60 countries included conservationists, scientists, government officials, indigenous leaders, artists, youth, and citizens of Spain. They filled the streets and halls of medieval Salamanca from October 2 to October 10, engaging in intergovernmental sessions, plenaries, workshops, cultural events, and a day exploring wild Spain.
Around the world, many thousands more followed the proceedings online through live videotaping, the “Voice of WILD10," the WILD10 blog, and social media. Though the conference ended on October 10, that ending was in fact a beginning, as delegates went home to pursue a myriad of new initiatives officially launched by WILD10's collaborative planning process.
WILD10 co-chair and president of The WILD Foundation Vance Martin declared, “WILD10 occurred at a very appropriate time for European and global history. We know the problems; the focus now needs to be on solutions. Not only has WILD10 produced good conservation outcomes, practical and realistic, we've generated a sense of hope, inspiration and cooperation - the very elements that our world needs to have a new relationship with nature and among nations."
WILD10 issued two major policy initiatives. The first is “The Statement from Salamanca," which asserts that wild nature is essential to human health and prosperity in providing fresh water, clean air, biodiversity, sustainable livelihoods, and in enhancing beauty, culture, the human identity, and spiritual wellbeing. Endorsed by ten leading global conservation organizations, the Statement calls for specific actions to reverse major threats such as biodiversity loss, deforestation, climate change, population growth, and ocean acidification, warming, and over-fishing.
The second major policy initiative coming out of the WILD10 Congress is “A Vision for a Wilder Europe," which contains an action agenda for how a wilder, and hence healthier and more prosperous Europe could be a reality by 2023. The return of wildlife to Europe was a major feature of the first day of plenary sessions at WILD10. Speakers from the Rewilding Europe initiative excited the WILD10 delegates with their description of aims to rewild one million hectares of land by 2020. They went further during WILD10, announcing plans to create ten wildlife and wilderness areas, and a new rewilding partnership community to further their goals.
A host of other initiatives and resolutions were adopted as well, and will be posted at www.wild10.org shortly.
At WILD10's closing session, Sanctuary Asia's Bittu Sahgal said, “We were born of the wilderness and though our generation seems to have lost its way and is remorselessly attacking the very source of life - nature - a vibrant new generation is determined to ‘right every wrong.' With nature's self-repair systems on their side, it looks increasingly like the large youth contingent of ‘Coalition WILD' will end up not merely rewildling the world, but in the process, finding the soul we lost while pillaging our only home."
Bittu Sahgal was joined by renowned American oceanographer Sylvia Earle, who told delegates: “We now have the tools and knowledge, the evidence, to know what's happening. We have to protect what remains in the natural world. It keeps us alive. If the Earth is at risk, we are at risk."
For more information on WILD10:
WILD10 President Vance Martin: The Sanctuary Voices of Reason series.
WILD Board member Harvey Locke: Nature Needs Half: A Necessary and Hopeful New Agenda for Protected Areas.
WILD10 Initiatives and Resolutions: www.wild10.org
Author: Jennifer Scarlott.
