Wildlife Works’s Biography
Wildlife Works is a community-centered wildlife conservation company that uses market-based solutions to protect the planet's threatened wilderness and endangered wildlife. The company was established on the belief that wildlife conservation must benefit local communities by sharing their environment with wildlife. Through its conservation projects, it provides direct financing to forest communities, which funds economic development while preventing millions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions from entering the atmosphere each year.
Its headquarters are in Mill Valley, California, with additional U.S. offices in North Carolina and Vermont. The company also has international offices in Cambodia, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Kenya, Panama, Tanzania, and the United Kingdom.
The company provides economic solutions for environmental conservation, directly financing community conservation efforts in some of the world's most threatened natural habitats. Wildlife Works supports these projects by offering nature-based carbon credits and other tradable conservation financing units.
Current initiatives include protecting 300,000 hectares of rainforest at the Mai Ndombe REDD+ Project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and safeguarding 200,000 hectares of dry-land forest at Kenya's Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project. Its pilot initiative, the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project, supports an ecosystem home to 14,000 endangered elephants and other threatened species like leopards, cheetahs, lions, and the African wild dog.
With over 1,000 employees worldwide, Wildlife Works is a global leader in using REDD+ to combat environmental degradation and reduce deforestation-related emissions. The company channels millions of dollars to indigenous populations in critical forests, ensuring communities benefit from preserving local landscapes and promoting wildlife-friendly development. Community payments range from direct revenue for self-determined development plans to investments in infrastructure, education, medical care, social programs, and job creation.
Founded in 1997 by Mike Korchinsky, a Canadian-born entrepreneur now based in the U.S., Wildlife Works was created to protect wildlife-rich forests by offering alternatives to slash-and-burn agriculture and poaching. The company's operations began with an eco-factory in Kasigau, Kenya, using financing from selling organic, fair-trade apparel to support local sustainable development and wilderness conservation. By 2008, Korchinsky and they were pioneering efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation through the United Nations' REDD+ initiative, which promotes the role of carbon markets in financing forest conservation worldwide.
The company continues to expand its portfolio of REDD+-funded projects, positioning itself as a leading organization in this field. From the Mai Ndombe REDD+ Project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project in Kenya, the company actively promotes conservation. It protects endangered species by compensating forest communities for their efforts.
They have received numerous awards for their community-centered conservation efforts, including Telly Awards for their educational films and recognition from the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance for their work in biodiversity protection and climate change mitigation.
Wildlife Works' current projects include large-scale undertakings such as the Mai-Ndombe REDD+ Project, which protects 300,000 hectares of critical habitat for bonobos and forest elephants, and the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project, which safeguards over 200,000 hectares of natural habitat crucial for endangered elephants and other wildlife. In Kenya, they have partnered with over 100,000 community members, creating jobs and supporting sustainable economic development. The Kasigau project now employs over 450 people, with more than 90% from the local community and one-third being women.
In addition to its existing projects, Wildlife Works is developing new initiatives on South America's Pacific Coast, the Amazon rainforest, and other regions worldwide. Learn more at WildlifeWorks.com/REDD-Projects.