Defenders of Wildlife

Defenders of Wildlife

Founded	1947
Focus	protection of all native animals and plants
Location	Washington, D.C.
Area served	United States
Method	education, advocacy
Website	defenders.org

Defenders of Wildlife is a 501(c)(3) non-profit conservation organization based in the United States. Its mission is to "protect and restore imperiled species throughout North America by motivating changes in policies adopted by governments and institutions and by developing innovative solutions. This approach would make significant lasting differences for wildlife and their natural habitat."

Background

Founded in 1947, Defenders of Wildlife is a major national conservation organization dedicated to conserving wildlife, protecting their natural habitats, and safeguarding bio-diversity. Operationally, Defenders of Wildlife has a three-pronged approach:

1. On the ground at the state and local level, they are involved in developing practical, innovative programs that protect and restore key species and habitats which work to inform their national policy work.

2. They work with state, national, and international policy makers to secure laws and policies that protect animals and their habitats. They are widely recognized by their peers and policy makers for the effectiveness of their advocacy work, particularly with the Department of the Interior and Department of Agriculture and are known for being the most effective advocate for wildlife funding in the federal appropriations process.

3. The Defenders are active in the courts establishing legal safeguards for native wildlife and fighting efforts to roll back environmental protections. The defenders pride themselves in acting as legal counsel on behalf of a population segment that cannot act for itself: North America’s wildlife.

Self-assignments and Aims

Vision: Wildlife population in North America is secure and thriving, sustained by a network of healthy lands and waters.

What does success look like for Defenders?

Their conservation vision succinctly describes the elements that define their success:

• Diverse population: Their conservation efforts target the full range of vulnerable North American biodiversity, from plants and pollinators to predators. The Defenders recognize that they cannot protect any species without simultaneously protecting the diversity of wildlife and habitats on which it relies upon.

• North America: While they do not set geographic boundaries on their work, the primary focus of Defenders is on the species of North America, including trans boundary terrestrial and marine species that migrate through its waters.

• Secure and thriving: The Defenders are working for the day when vulnerable North American species rebound to the point that they are secure and no longer threatened with rapid decline or extinction. They aim to provide them the ability to live in thriving, robust and well-distributed populations.

• Network of healthy lands and waters: Wildlife has the greatest chance of thriving in security if it is supported by a transnational network of public and private lands, rivers and coastal waters, core natural areas, and working landscapes.

Strategic Plan

To help in attaining their vision, the Defenders’ strategic plan involves a framework for setting objectives and allocating resources across the organization. This strategic approach develops long-term solutions having measurable results as their top priority, to help ensure that Defenders are an effective voice for wildlife conservation. The Defenders believe that defining their vision and focusing on their resources will ensure that North America’s spectacular wild animals and habitats will still exist for the next generation.

Its sister organization, Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, lobbies and works to influence legislative action directly. Their website contains a lot of informative details about different endangered animals, and also how we can help protect them.

Palin Campaign

In 2009, Defenders of Wildlife announced a new media campaign named "Eye on Palin." The campaign, starring actress Ashley Judd, focused on what the group termed the "extreme anti-conservation policies" of the Alaskan governor Sarah Palin, in particular, her support of the aerial hunting of wolves. In response to it, Governor Palin put out a statement calling Defenders of Wildlife an "extreme fringe group" defending her "predator control program." She attacked the non-profit group for allegedly "twisting the truth in an effort to raise funds from innocent and hard-pressed Americans."

Awards

Defenders was enlisted as "America's Best Wildlife Charity" in 2005 by the magazine Reader's Digest.Template:Citation needed and awaiting corroboration from Reader's Digest

External links

• Defenders.org
• DefendersActionFund.org
• Defenders Action Center
• ExxposeExxon Defenders of Wildlife is a founding member of this environmental group organized to call attention to the activities of ExxonMobil that are considered environmentally harmful.