National Wildlife Federation Embraces New Vision Statement Centering Wildlife, People, and Ecosystems

We are excited to share that after months of collaboration between National Wildlife Federation staff, Board, and affiliates, the National Wildlife Federation officially has a new vision statement: 

In a critical time of accelerating climate and biodiversity crises, we envision improved ecological balance and safe, equitable access to clean water, air, and land to ensure that all wildlife, people, and ecosystems thrive. 

The National Wildlife Federation commits to achieve this by:

1. Upholding the We Envision, We Believe, We Commit statements adopted by NWF Affiliates.
2. Working across the Federation to implement effective and innovative practices, policies, and programs that benefit wildlife, people, and our planet. 
3. Expanding our impact, built through authentic relationships with existing affiliates and with partners and communities that have been traditionally excluded.
4. Moving with integrity and courage to affect transformational change at the intersection between wildlife conservation and environmental justice. 

This new vision statement better incorporates National Wildlife Federation’s values by recognizing the interconnectedness between wildlife conservation and environmental justice—front and center. 

“This vision will help ensure that the National Wildlife Federation, its Board of Directors, and affiliates are all focused on recovering wildlife and addressing the persistent challenges facing historically and currently marginalized and excluded groups of people that we want to serve better. We don’t have to choose between wildlife and environmental justice, and, in fact, they are interconnected and integral to helping people and wildlife or ecosystems thrive for generations to come” said Miguel Ordeñana, a member of the National Wildlife Federation’s Board of Directors and co-chair of its Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice Committee.

Not only will our organization be better for this new, more inclusive, vision statement, but so will our movement. 

“Overcoming the existential wildlife and climate crises of this determinative decade requires building an inclusive conservation movement that ensures our efforts to save wildlife, conserve lands, and restore waters no longer overlook people and overburdened communities,” said Collin O’Mara, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation. “The National Wildlife Federation will redouble our work with our state and territorial affiliates and partners to recover America’s imperiled wildlife species and confront the escalating climate crisis, while we simultaneously elevate our essential work to authentically partner with communities to address generational and ongoing environmental injustices affecting people and wildlife alike.”

Building an inclusive conservation movement also means authentically partnering with communities to create a more equitable and just future.

Thanks to our new vision, National Wildlife Federation can better address the interconnected and existential wildlife, climate, and environmental injustice crises.