Idea Wild
A night of community, conservation, and inspiration.
I know it’s been a little while since you all have heard from me, but with summer nearing an end and kids back in school, it seemed like a good time to reengage. That nagging feeling of a passion being neglected was given a nice kick in the pants under the stars and among a beautiful community last week.
I had been invited to attend a fundraiser for an amazing local organization called Idea Wild. Idea Wild was founded by Wally Van Sickle and his wife Joni. Wally is a friend of a friend and I was grateful for the opportunity to attend.
Biodiversity is Having A Moment
Biodiversity has been grabbing headlines lately. It’s benefits are becoming more understood, as are the threats.
While some of us are new to the party, Idea Wild has been working to preserve biodiversity around the world for over 30 years. The group’s approach, fueled by the founder’s experience, is different.
A previous article about Wally and Idea Wild in Fort Collins City Lifestyle summed it up pretty well:
When Wally had been working in graduate school as a biologist researching mountain lions, he had everything he could ever want equipment-wise. He had access to technicians and radio telemetry. He could get helicopters, airplanes, trucks, and snowmobiles.
This was a stark contrast to what he would see working in wildlife conservation. The first time he noticed the discrepancy was back in ‘86. It had been his first experience as a volunteer in Kenya, working with an ornithologist. Far from the flashy equipment Wally was used to, the ornithologist’s equipment to capture and tag the birds was completely substandard. Of course, it was. The entire conservation project was being funded from the ornithologist’s own pocket.
Wally’s World: Turning Small Contributions into Big Impact
Instead of putting all of its eggs in one basket, or one large project, the group works to arm individuals and teams in “critical biodiversity hotspots” around the world with the equipment they need to launch and continue research and conservation efforts.
To date, the group has funded over 7,800 recipients and 23,000 projects in 140 countries.
What was fun about this fundraiser was the, well, diversity of projects to contribute to. That and the relatively meager requirements to benefit the project - $431 here, $528 there.
One by one, auction style, Wally described the project, the person behind it, and the impact. Donors would hold up their numbered cards and contribute $10, $20, $50 or much more until every one of the 30 projects were funded (or over funded).
Thirty projects in thirty countries.
Thirty conservationists who are already out in the field, often their local communities, on their way to receiving basic tools like binoculars, camera traps, laptops, GoPros, GPS devices.
All these things that many of us have laying around in our piles of (mostly unused) outdoor gear.
The fun part was the sense of community; that WE were funding these projects together. That and the ability to spread it around - chameleons in Madagascar, turtles in Costa Rica, elephants in Sri Lanka.
Of course, I was drawn to some of the ocean conservation projects, but my daughter gave me the tell-tale “let’s do this” grin for macaws, geckos, and of course, elephants.
Projects that were funding education programs were impossible to resist. The positive knock-on effects were just so obvious.
Here are some of the projects we picked out:
Seagrass restoration in Playa Siboney (Cuba)
Study of impact of pesticides on bees in Argentina
Investigation of biomass, density, and habitat quality for conservation of sea cucumbers in Vietnam
Elephants as ecosystem service providers with forest regeneration and seed dispersal in Sri Lanka
Conserving great green macaws in Colombia
Monitoring reef biodiversity in Zanzibar
Conservation of sea turtles in Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica
Studying abundance, distribution, and bycatch of coastal Cambodian Cetaceans
Conservation of Labord’s Chameleon in Madegascar
Like I said, it was a blast!
An Environment of Gratitude
The team did a great job recognizing and thanking any contribution (Wally often calling them out by name), including the contribution of just being there in support of the event.
When a boy in the front row, about 11 years old, made one of his handful of tentative $10 pledges among the people donating hundreds, Wally took a pause to relay a quick story about founding Idea Wild.
In the days before internet, he had sent out letters to everyone he knew explaining the idea and asking for help. After waiting for weeks and hearing nothing, he received his first reply. In it, a $10 check.
And they’ve been funneling donations big and small to projects that just need a little help to get off the ground ever since.
Upcoming Event:
December 5, 2024
Glad your daughter was along. She will learn how this works and her $ is part of the process. What a fun and productive event.