Wildlife Works • United States of America

Wildlife Works is a community-centered conservation company that employs market-based solutions to protect endangered wildlife and threatened wilderness areas. Founded on the belief that effective wildlife conservation must benefit local communities by sharing their environment with wildlife, the company channels financial resources directly to these communities. This approach supports economic development while preventing millions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions from entering the atmosphere each year.

The company's headquarters are in Mill Valley, California, and its offices in North Carolina and Vermont. Internationally, it operates in Cambodia, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Kenya, Panama, Tanzania, and the United Kingdom.

Wildlife Works offers economic solutions for environmental conservation by financing community-led efforts in some of the world's most threatened habitats. They provide nature-based carbon credits and other tradable conservation financing units to support these projects.

One key initiative is the Mai Ndombe REDD+ Project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which protects 300,000 hectares of rainforest. Another significant project is the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project in Kenya, which safeguards 200,000 hectares of dry-land forest. Its initial endeavor, the Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project, supports an ecosystem home to 14,000 endangered elephants and other threatened species such as leopards, cheetahs, lions, and the African wild dog.

Employing over 1,000 people 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 that these communities benefit from preserving local landscapes and promoting wildlife-friendly development. These payments include direct revenue for self-determined development plans and investments in infrastructure, education, medical care, social programs, and job creation.

Mike Korchinsky, a Canadian-born entrepreneur now based in the U.S., founded Wildlife Works in 1997 to protect wildlife-rich forests by providing 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, promoting the role of carbon markets in financing global forest conservation.

Today, 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.

Wildlife Works has received numerous awards for its community-centered conservation efforts, including Telly Awards for its educational films and recognition from the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance for its work in biodiversity protection and climate change mitigation.

The company's current projects include large-scale initiatives 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 vital for endangered elephants and other wildlife. The company has partnered with over 100,000 community members in Kenya, 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.