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Conservation

Wilder

Research idea

Make more room for the wild.

Exploring durable, community-led ways to protect connected habitats and help damaged landscapes recover.

Proposed direction · Research before intervention · Learn from people already leading the work

Illustrative landscape lab

What changes when habitat reconnects?

Move the slider to explore a simplified idea: protecting isolated fragments is different from rebuilding a connected living system. This is an illustration, not a forecast or site-specific model.

55%

illustrative connectivity

52%

illustrative edge pressure

fragmentedconnected
baby bear in the woods

Acquiring and protecting natural land

Humanity’s expanse has been amazing, but it’s strained the natural world. We support the goal of preserving half of Earth for wilderness.

To do this, we’ll need to more than double the area already under protection. That means working with governments, organizations, and private landowners around the world.

Wilder will acquire and protect private lands, return them to nature, and, where appropriate, secure their legal rights with public trusts.

Project brief

Wilder is exploring how Lifeco could support durable protection and recovery of high-value habitats. Land purchase is only one tool. Easements, Indigenous and community tenure, public protected areas, wildlife corridors, and stewardship agreements can be more appropriate. Any future work should begin with ecological priorities and the rights, knowledge, and livelihoods of people who already care for the land.

Working principles

  • Protect places for biodiversity, connectivity, climate resilience, and community value—not acreage alone.
  • Respect Indigenous sovereignty, local land rights, free prior and informed consent, and community governance.
  • Budget for permanent stewardship, monitoring, and legal durability before acquiring or restricting land.

Organizations and resources to learn from

These independent links are starting points for research. They are not endorsements, funding recommendations, or claims of partnership.

  • Nature Needs Half — a coalition advancing large-scale, connected conservation
  • Rainforest Trust — partner-led protection of threatened tropical habitats
  • One Earth — science and place-based pathways for conservation and restoration

Near-term milestones

  1. Define ecological, social, governance, and permanence criteria for potential projects.
  2. Map existing land trusts and community-led conservation efforts before considering a new entity or acquisition.
  3. Develop one transparent case study with local leadership, long-term stewardship costs, and measurable outcomes.

Current status

Research and relationship-building. Lifeco is not yet operating a field program under this project.

How to help

We are looking for conservation biologists, land-trust practitioners, Indigenous and community-rights experts, real-estate attorneys, and stewardship funders. If that is you, contact Lifeco and mention this project.