Guardians
Guardians are the stewards of Earth’s wild places and the plants, fungi, and animals that call them home.
The wild is for the 100% – and Re:wild is committed to emboldening conservation guardians, cultivating conservation leadership, and ensuring that every person in a position to protect Earth’s biodiversity has agency to do so.
The world needs more conservation professionals. A 2022 study co-authored by Re:wild found that we need more rangers and other protected area personnel to effectively protect 30% of our planet’s wild lands.
Our programs for conservation guardians share common aspects:
Cultivate leadership: We provide training, mentorship and resources for early career conservationists.
Weave networks: Re:wild works with a global network of more than 400 partners in 84 countries, and serves as a hub for connecting the right people to advance important biodiversity initiatives.
Transformation: We have watched guardians grow and advance their work through our various channels of support.
Re:wild’s Guardians Programs
ASSOCIATES
Re:wild’s Associates are an extension of the Re:wild staff. This program is by invitation only and cultivates leadership skills, currently supporting more than 35 early-, mid-, and advanced-career conservationists working independently, in organizations, or academia to advance Re:wild-aligned conservation priorities such as wildlife and wildlands.
The future of conservation depends on a strong, resilient, next generation of champions to lead and drive change; this program also helps extend Re:wild’s reach around the world.
Our Associates program entails training in conservation leadership skills, expert mentoring, technical assistance, fiscal sponsorship, access to funding, networking, and communications support.
Get to know some of our Associates and their work:
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
Re:wild partners with Indigenous peoples and local communities to conserve the world’s wildest areas and most threatened species. We work with Indigenous peoples across North America, Latin America, Africa/Madagascar, Asia, and the Pacific.
Indigenous peoples steward nearly a quarter of the planet’s surface area, safeguard up to 80% of its biodiversity, and are keepers of traditional knowledge critical to staving off the worst effects of climate change and biodiversity loss.
Re:wild’s partnerships with Indigenous peoples and local communities span over 60 sites in 25 countries. We have supported conservation in over 80 million hectares and have had positive impacts for people through greater security and empowerment, strengthened governance, and livelihood creation.
Our strategies in supporting Indigenous peoples and local communities include:
Strengthening governance, management and protection of biodiversity-rich Indigenous territories
Enhancing community-based solutions to protect and restore the world’s most threatened species and habitats and promote Indigenous livelihoods and cultural resilience
Securing and protecting Indigenous peoples’ rights over traditional territories and ancestral domains.
Read more about our work with Indigenous peoples and local communities:
Supporting San communities threatened by oil drilling in the Okavango
Protecting ancestral lands–and safeguarding the Tamaraw–in the Philippines
Meet Nemonte Nenquimo, Amazonia Activist, Goldman Prize winner, TIME most influential people and member of Team Re:wild
RANGERS
Re:wild stands with rangers, wildlife wardens, forest guards, scouts and watchers worldwide in honor of their courage, their commitment and their sacrifices. Without the rangers who risk their lives protecting wildlife and wild places, there would be very little wild at all. Rangers are guardians of the wild, of history and of culture sites. They are teachers, guides, scientific collaborators and emergency responders.
Re:wild is a proud member of the Universal Ranger Support Alliance (URSA), a collaborative initiative of eight conservation organizations who have come together to support rangers globally.
The value of the services Rangers provide is estimated at $125-$140 TRILLION per year. From managing wildlife tourism to preventing illegal poaching and wildlife trade, Rangers are the stewards of our most precious resources.
The Ranger Solution, narrated by Edward Norton and produced by Re:wild, is a five-part animated video series designed for the #RangersDeserveMore movement — to raise up the profile of rangers everywhere, and bring awareness to the challenges rangers face at work, from harsh environments and inadequate supplies to lack of access to clean water. The work of a ranger is not only important; it is sometimes dangerous. Rangers around the world deserve reliable working conditions, access to healthcare, training, and better pay and benefits.
CONSERVATION PATHWAYS
Time and again, the world’s youth have demonstrated the power they have to create real, positive change for the future of our shared Earth. Through our Conservation Pathways For Youth program, Re:wild supports the early careers of aspiring conservationists and scientists, with a particular focus on supporting youth to ascend the career ladder in conservation.
Re:wild scholarships, paid fellowships, and mentorships have provided more than 450 young conservationists from underserved communities, HBCUs and Tribal colleges across the U.S. with marketable skills, field experience, career-planning tools and inspiring BIPOC role models.
Case Study: Re:wild supports groups like Groundwork Hudson Valley’s Green Team, based in Yonkers, NY. This program hires local teenagers enrolled in the Yonkers Public School system for environmental jobs, where they gain firsthand experience in conservation – from building community gardens to cleaning the Saw Mill River to removing invasive species. The Green Team works alongside the National Park Service and US Fish & Wildlife Service rangers on public lands throughout the United States — like Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Canyon.
Case Study: The Green Careers Roundtable is an annual virtual event hosted by the National Wildlife Federation, co-sponsored by Re:wild and Planet Women, designed to help prepare and inform students, faculty, and alumni of color for the explosion of career opportunities expected to come as the world transitions to a greener economy with an increased focus on the intersection of social, economic, and environmental justice. You can watch the most recent one here.
WOMEN IN NATURE NETWORK
The global 30x30 effort to protect 30% of our planet's wild lands will require more rangers and protected area personnel, according to a study led by Re:wild. Women are needed to fill these roles, and to pave the way for all who want to protect and restore the wild.
The Women in Nature Network (WiNN) connects and empowers women to achieve sustainable management and conservation of our Earth’s natural resources. Re:wild is proud to support women in conservation and science, and to be a fiscal sponsor of WiNN.
WiNN is working to create and support future generations of environmental leaders by developing a global learning community where women come together to share their knowledge and experiences.
WiNN accomplishes this through four primary initiatives:
Catalyzing professional networks
Annual global networking event
Mentoring program
Support for women-led conservation on the ground
RE:WILD YOUR CAMPUS
Re:wild Your Campus, a fiscally sponsored program of Re:wild, empowers the next generation of environmental leaders to create safer, more sustainable living and learning environments for all, by starting locally and advocating for organic land care on their campuses. Re:wild Your Campus provides students with tools to work with groundskeepers, develop campaign strategies, and provide alternatives in order to transition their campuses to organic land maintenance and ultimately re-wild and revolutionize landcare and create safer spaces for all.
