Wildlife Works

Environmental Services

Wildlife Works is a company dedicated to community-focused wildlife conservation. It employs market-based solutions to protect endangered species and threatened wilderness areas. The company's foundation rests on the principle that effective wildlife conservation must benefit the local communities that share their environment with wildlife. By channeling financial resources directly to these forest communities, the company supports economic development while preventing millions of tons of carbon dioxide emissions from entering the atmosphere each year.

Headquartered in Mill Valley, California, the company also maintains North Carolina and Vermont offices. 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.

Among its key initiatives 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.

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 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 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.

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. 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.