Communities

At WCS, we choose to work in the most isolated, wild, and high-integrity places left on the planet. For the Indigenous Peoples and local communities who live there, these forests, grasslands, and coastal reef systems are the source of their families’ livelihoods and wellbeing and the foundation of their cultural identities.

Through a human rights-based approach that engenders inclusion, equity, and justice, WCS seeks to support and facilitate Indigenous Peoples’ and local community-led conservation and their effective integration into the management of existing protected areas and surrounding landscapes to protect Key Biodiversity Areas, high-integrity terrestrial and marine ecosystems, and to more effectively mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change.

Their direct and continuing interest in the health of these systems has made Indigenous Peoples and local communities our best partners and most important political constituency for conserving natural resources in the wild landscapes and seascapes where we work.

Simply said, WCS wants to save wildlife in wild places, and so do the people who live there.

Through our Global Rights + Communities Program, we support many Indigenous Peoples' and local community-led conservation efforts in this shared vision, and also facilitate spaces to bring their perspectives and rights into other conservation models.