Fifteen corporations have demonstrated their leadership and commitment to wilderness conservation by signing a Memorandum of Understanding for a Corporate Commitment to Wilderness (CCW) at the 9th World Wilderness Congress (WILD9). The CCW is an initiative of our sister organisation The WILD Foundation (WILD).  The CCW’s mission is to collaboratively grow the capacities of the private sector to implement united actions that ensure the protection of biodiversity and wild places that are central to life itself.

The founding companies of the CCW include: ACCIONA, AES-TERMOELECTRICA DEL GOLFO, ALFA, BIMBO, CEMEX, COCA-COLA DE MEXICO, COOPER T. SMITH DE MEXICO, FEMSA, FERROMEX, FRESNILLO-PLC, LTH, PLENUS, PROMOTORA AMBIENTAL, VITRO, WAL-MART DE MEXICO.

In recognition of the signing of the MOU, Armando J. García, Executive Vice President of Technology, Energy and Sustainability for CEMEX, said:

“The time is right for creating momentum through collective dialogue and united action of like-minded corporate leaders to help protect wild landscapes, and thereby sustain their ecological services that support a healthy and prosperous society. The corporate world depends upon sustainable natural resources and healthy ecosystems. Collectively we can analyze and adopt best practices to preserve them while meeting our consumer and corporate objectives.”

Vance Martin, president of The WILD Foundation added:

“There is a clear business case for sustainable development in industry. Protecting wilderness and nature ensures the maintenance of vital ecosystem services such as climate regulation (through carbon sequestration), freshwater, clean air and biodiversity. Participation in the CCW offers the opportunity to demonstrate corporate leadership and commitment to the conservation of Earth’s natural resources.”

Some of the areas of common interest for developing long-term goals and objectives of the CCW are:

• protecting wilderness land and seas for the long-term;
• promoting public-private sector partnerships for wilderness;
• promoting the importance of wilderness values;
• advocating for wilderness recognition and legislation;
• providing outreach and education on the role of wilderness for ecosystem services;
• increasing awareness of the direct link between wilderness, biodiversity and a stable climate;

The CCW initiative resulted from the collaboration of CEMEX, a global building materials company and WILD. CEMEX underscored its history of leadership in conservation initiatives by launching a flagship project El Carmen, a trans-boundary biological corridor located along the Mexico-United States border. During the 8th World Wilderness Congress in Anchorage, Alaska in 2005, CEMEX designated a strategic area (approximately 10,000 ha) of El Carmen as the first wilderness designation for Mexico and Latin America (which is now been increased to more than 20,000 ha). The positive reaction to this announcement motivated CEMEX to collaborate with WILD to promote the participation of other corporations in wilderness conservation.