WildAid

WildAid is an international environmental organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, whose central mission is to reduce consumer demand for wildlife products and make wildlife conservation a mainstream public priority. Rather than concentrating only on enforcement or habitat management, the organization emphasizes behavior change: it uses mass-media public-service announcements, educational initiatives, celebrity advocacy, business partnerships, and collaboration with governments to discourage the purchase and consumption of products associated with illegal wildlife trade. The organization traces its origins to Global Survival Network, an environmental and human-trafficking-focused nongovernmental organization founded in 1995 by Steven R. Galster and Michael C. Mitchell. During its early years, Global Survival Network investigated links between wildlife poaching, smuggling, and human trafficking. Undercover work led by Galster and colleagues contributed to the report Crime & Servitude and the 1997 documentary Bought & Sold, which received coverage from broadcasters including ABC, CNN, and the BBC. In 2000, several members of the organization reorganized its work around wildlife conservation and relaunched the environmental program under the WildAid name. Under Peter Knights, who remained associated with WildAid after the 2000 reorganization, the organization developed a demand-reduction model built around highly visible communications. WildAid has worked with Asian and Western celebrities, business leaders, media organizations, local partners, and public authorities to deliver messages about shark fins, ivory, rhino horn, pangolins, illegal fishing, and other wildlife products. Its public campaigns are designed to reach large audiences and to connect individual purchasing decisions with poaching, trafficking, species decline, and ecosystem damage. Celebrity participants have included Jackie Chan, Yao Ming, Leonardo DiCaprio, Harrison Ford, Jane Goodall, Kate Hudson, Amitabh Bachchan, Michelle Yeoh, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, among others. WildAid's work extends beyond advertising. The organization has operated a field program in the Galápagos Islands focused on protecting the Galápagos Marine Reserve, supporting apprehension of poachers and smugglers, and developing economic alternatives for local communities. It also collaborates with conservation groups, governments, development agencies, and media partners. Its partners have included the African Wildlife Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Shark Savers, the government of Thailand, and the United States Agency for International Development. In 2014, WildAid merged with Shark Savers, strengthening its shark-conservation and seafood-demand work. The organization operates across the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, China, Indonesia, India, Ecuador, and other locations through international campaigns and local partnerships. Its programs have particularly emphasized China and other Asian markets in relation to shark-fin consumption, ivory, rhino horn, pangolins, and illegal wildlife trade. WildAid has reported broad public exposure for some campaigns; a 2016 China survey cited in reference material found that 80 percent of respondents had seen WildAid shark-conservation messages and that 98.8 percent agreed the campaigns raised awareness. Charity Navigator gave WildAid a perfect score of 100.00 beginning on December 1, 2016, according to the referenced material.

WildAid's institutional history begins with Global Survival Network, an environmental nongovernmental organization founded in 1995 by Steven R. Galster and Michael C. Mitchell. The original organization addressed both wildlife trafficking and human trafficking. Its founders and investigators believed that illegal wildlife commerce could not be understood separately from broader transnational criminal networks, and they used investigative reporting and undercover documentation to examine those links. Between 1995 and 1997, Global Survival Network conducted a two-year investigation involving meetings with wildlife poachers, human traffickers, and trafficked women. The resulting evidence supported the written report Crime & Servitude and the 1997 documentary Bought & Sold. The documentary received international media attention, including exposure through ABC Primetime Live, CNN, and the BBC. The investigation also contributed to discussion of legislative and financial measures directed at human trafficking. Materials from the investigation were later housed at the Human Rights Documentation Initiative at the University of Texas at Austin. In 2000, Steven R. Galster, Peter Knights, Steve Trent, Chris Gauntlett, and colleagues reorganized and reoriented the environmental work under the WildAid name. The rebranding reflected a stronger focus on wildlife conservation and on reducing the demand that sustains poaching and illegal trade. The organization's approach differed from a purely enforcement-led model. It sought to make wildlife consumption socially undesirable by using memorable public messages, prominent ambassadors, mass media, education, and partnerships with governments and conservation organizations. The reorganization was followed by the separation of several founding leaders into organizations with different missions. Steve Trent founded the Environmental Justice Foundation in 2001, Chris Gauntlett founded Wildlife Alliance in 2004, and Steven R. Galster founded the Freeland Foundation in 2008, continuing work related to human trafficking. Peter Knights maintained a directorship role with WildAid. This division left WildAid focused primarily on wildlife conservation, demand reduction, and public engagement. WildAid subsequently developed campaigns addressing shark fins, ivory, rhino horn, pangolins, illegal fishing, and other wildlife products. Its communications model combined local and international media with celebrity participation. In China and other Asian markets, the organization used public-service announcements to associate wildlife-product consumption with species decline and criminal trafficking. A 2016 survey cited in the reference material reported high exposure to WildAid shark messages among Chinese respondents and strong agreement that the campaigns increased awareness. The organization also expanded its field and partnership work. In the Galápagos Islands, WildAid has supported protection of the Galápagos Marine Reserve, anti-poaching and anti-smuggling activity, and economic alternatives for local communities. Its broader network has included the African Wildlife Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Shark Savers, governments, development agencies, businesses, media partners, and local conservation groups. A major organizational development occurred in 2014, when WildAid merged with Shark Savers. The combination reinforced WildAid's shark-conservation program and its efforts to reduce demand for shark fins and related products. Later campaigns included Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2016 Less Meat, Less Heat message, Jackie Chan's 2017 pangolin announcement, and the 2019 A Good Life is Free of Killing campaign launched with Thailand and the United States Agency for International Development. WildAid also worked with Plan B Media in Taiwan in 2019 on shark-preservation messaging. Today, WildAid is an active international environmental organization based in San Francisco. It works in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, China, Indonesia, India, Ecuador, Thailand, Taiwan, and through wider international partnerships. Its defining strategy remains the use of public communication and behavior-change campaigns to reduce demand for wildlife products, alongside field conservation, education, government cooperation, and community-oriented initiatives.

• 2019

  Thailand wildlife-trafficking campaign begins

  [1]WildAiden.wikipedia.org

  WildAid, Thailand's government, and USAID launch A Good Life is Free of Killing.

• 2016

  Charity Navigator gives WildAid a perfect score

  [1]WildAiden.wikipedia.org

  According to the referenced material, Charity Navigator awarded WildAid a score of 100.00 beginning December 1, 2016.

• 2014

  Merger with Shark Savers

  [1]WildAiden.wikipedia.org

  WildAid combines with Shark Savers to strengthen shark-conservation and shark-product demand-reduction work.

• 2000

  Environmental program is rebranded as WildAid

  [1]WildAiden.wikipedia.org

  The organization is reorganized around wildlife conservation and demand reduction under the WildAid name.

• 1997

  Bought & Sold documentary is released

  [1]WildAiden.wikipedia.org

  Global Survival Network releases a documentary based on its investigation into trafficking, receiving coverage from major international broadcasters.

• 1995

  Global Survival Network is founded

  [1]WildAiden.wikipedia.org

  Steven R. Galster and Michael C. Mitchell establish Global Survival Network, an organization addressing wildlife and human trafficking.

A nonprofit conservation organization differentiated by high-reach, celebrity-supported communications that target consumer demand for wildlife products while complementing enforcement, education, and field conservation.

• Public awareness program · 2000

  Demand-reduction campaigns

  WildAid's principal program offering consists of public-service announcements and related communications intended to change attitudes and purchasing behavior. Campaigns connect consumer demand for wildlife products with poaching, trafficking, species decline, and ecosystem damage. The organization distributes messages through television, outdoor media, digital channels, celebrity appearances, education, and local partnerships.

• Marine conservation

  Shark Conservation Program

  The shark program seeks to reduce demand for shark fins and other shark products, particularly through public campaigns in China and other Asian markets. It uses celebrity ambassadors, survey-based communications, media partnerships, and conservation messaging to raise awareness of shark population pressures and discourage shark-fin consumption.

• Field conservation

  Galápagos Marine Reserve field program

  WildAid operates a field program in the Galápagos Islands focused on protecting the Galápagos Marine Reserve. The program has included support for apprehending poachers and smugglers and for creating economic alternatives for local communities, linking enforcement and conservation with community livelihoods.

• Environmental education

  Wildlife-trade education

  WildAid develops educational initiatives that explain the consequences of wildlife trafficking and consumption. These initiatives complement mass-media campaigns by engaging communities, institutions, governments, businesses, and local conservation partners in making wildlife protection a social and policy priority.

• 2019A Good Life is Free of Killing

  Thailand

  WildAid partnered with the government of Thailand and USAID on a campaign intended to discourage wildlife trafficking and promote choices that do not depend on killing protected wildlife.

  Source
• 2019Taiwan shark-preservation campaign

  Taiwan

  WildAid and Plan B Media promoted shark conservation and sought to discourage the consumption of shark-fin soup through public awareness messaging.

  Source
• 2017Kung Fu Pangolin

  International · China

  Jackie Chan appeared in a public service announcement designed to make pangolin trafficking and consumption more visible and socially unacceptable.

  Source
• 2016Less Meat, Less Heat

  International

  A WildAid public service announcement featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger encouraged people to eat less meat as one way to address climate change.

  Source
• Poaching Steals From Us All

  International

  WildAid used celebrity participation, including Danai Gurira and Bryce Dallas Howard, to highlight the damage caused by poaching, with particular attention to threatened species such as rhinoceroses.

  Source

• 2014

  Merge with Shark SaversM&A

  Background

  Shark Savers was a nonprofit focused on shark conservation, an area already addressed by WildAid's demand-reduction campaigns.

  Action taken

  WildAid merged with Shark Savers to combine organizational capabilities and deepen work against demand for shark fins and shark products.

  Aftermath

  The merger reinforced WildAid's shark-conservation program and its public-awareness work in Asian markets.

  Source

• 2000

  Reorient the organization toward wildlife demand reductionStrategy

  Background

  Global Survival Network had addressed both wildlife and human trafficking, while its environmental program had developed demand-reduction work under Peter Knights.

  Action taken

  The organization strengthened its environmental focus and adopted the WildAid name, concentrating on wildlife conservation, public education, and reducing demand for wildlife products.

  Aftermath

  Several former co-directors later established separate organizations with different missions, while WildAid continued as a wildlife-conservation organization.

  Source

1. 1WildAiden.wikipedia.org
2. 2WildAid official websitewildaid.org