56 years of Wilderness

The United States was the first country to officially designate land as “Wilderness” through the Wilderness Act of 1964. This was to protect the most pristine and wildest of America’s land for future generations. For many years in Europe, Wilderness was associated with far-flung, exotic locations like the Amazon or Yosemite. It took many years for Europeans to realise that there was Wilderness in Europe, and it needed our protection. In 2009, the European Wilderness Resolution was passed. Europe now had a Wilderness definition, and a plan to protect Wilderness.
Fast forward five years, and people from all across the globe gathered at the 10th World Wilderness Congress to build on the Wilderness Resolution of Europe. There were many wild conversations, and this sparked the founding of the European Wilderness Society. For the last five years, the European Wilderness Society has been working for a wilder Europe together with more than 40 members of the European Wilderness Network.