In November 2024, the inaugural cohort of WCN’s Rising Wildlife Leaders Amazonia Program met in Colombia for the first time. All 24 of the up-and-coming conservationists in this new program participated in a week-long training workshop designed to forge new connections, build leadership skills, discuss conservation best practices, and promote personal growth and team-building activities.
Members of the Amazonia Program’s first cohort.
The Amazon basin is critical to our planet’s health and home to unique biodiversity found nowhere else in the world, but it faces critical conservation challenges. WCN firmly believes that long-term conservation can only succeed when it is led and upheld by locally-based conservationists committed to community engagement. The Amazonia Program is rooted in these principles, and we are honored to be investing in these rising wildlife leaders to create a better future for this crucial region for the health of our planet.
Jaguars are just one of the incredible species found in the Amazon basin.
The Amazonia Program is a joint initiative of the Wildlife Conservation Network, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and the Global Environment Facility’s Fonseca Leadership Program. To invest in the future of this important landscape, the Amazonia Program is supporting a new generation of highly skilled conservation leaders to protect the Amazon and its wildlife. Each participant receives two years of support tailored to their long-term career needs and goals, as well as invaluable networking opportunities with other conservationists in the region.
One of the group training sessions.
This workshop was one such opportunity, bringing together conservationists from Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Suriname. Together, they took part in learning sessions about leadership basics, project design and strategic planning, conflict management, collaboration, and fundraising, among others. To begin designing their professional development plan, each participant reflected on their personal strengths and growth opportunities. Through interactive exercises, they were encouraged to envision the next steps of their career trajectories and how to advance their current work.
By building a network for these conservationists, they can support each other as their careers grow.
It was inspiring to see these bright leaders form bonds, build their confidence, and learn together. This type of camaraderie is key to establishing a sturdy network for each of them to rely on as they pursue their conservation goals. Each participant will soon be paired with a professional mentor, who will work with them throughout the duration of the program to continue building those skills. Participants will meet again in Brazil next year to continue this in-person learning, and will stay in touch virtually to support each other as they work across the Amazon basin to protect vulnerable wildlife and wild places.
