North America
Yellowstone to Yukon
Continental corridorA long-running experiment in connected mountain habitat.
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Conservation
Wilder
Research idea
Make more room for the wild.
Exploring durable, community-led ways to protect connected habitats and help damaged landscapes recover.
Proposed direction · Research before intervention · Learn from people already leading the work
Illustrative landscape lab
What changes when habitat reconnects?
Move the slider to explore a simplified idea: protecting isolated fragments is different from rebuilding a connected living system. This is an illustration, not a forecast or site-specific model.
55%
illustrative connectivity
52%
illustrative edge pressure
fragmentedconnected
Living field guide · interactive
How can landscapes become connected, abundant, and genuinely shared?
Wilder explores conservation that links habitat recovery with Indigenous rights, local livelihoods, animal wellbeing, and the return of ecological processes.
01 · Pull the levers
Build an illustrative scenario.
Move each control to explore the shape of the idea. The response is a conversation aid, not a forecast, ranking, or promise of impact.
42illustrative
momentum
momentum
Movement
Durability
Shared thriving
02 · Places to learn from
Move through the field.
These locations are starting points for comparison—not sites Lifeco claims to operate in.
03 · Visual atlas
Three ways into the idea.
04 · Already in motion
Learn from people doing the work.
Independent references, not partners or endorsements. Follow the links, examine the methods, and compare perspectives.
01
Global
Re:wild
Biodiversity conservation and restoration
Open resource ↗02Canada · United States
Yellowstone to Yukon
Landscape connectivity
Open resource ↗03Global
Global Rewilding Alliance
Rewilding network
Open resource ↗04Global
Nia Tero
Indigenous guardianship
Open resource ↗05Global
Conservation Corridor
Connectivity science
Open resource ↗05 · Productive uncertainty
The questions should stay visible.
What does ‘wild’ mean when people have always lived there?
Acquiring and protecting natural land
Humanity’s expanse has been amazing, but it’s strained the natural world. We support the goal of preserving half of Earth for wilderness.
To do this, we’ll need to more than double the area already under protection. That means working with governments, organizations, and private landowners around the world.
Wilder will acquire and protect private lands, return them to nature, and, where appropriate, secure their legal rights with public trusts.
Project brief
Wilder is exploring how Lifeco could support durable protection and recovery of high-value habitats. Land purchase is only one tool. Easements, Indigenous and community tenure, public protected areas, wildlife corridors, and stewardship agreements can be more appropriate. Any future work should begin with ecological priorities and the rights, knowledge, and livelihoods of people who already care for the land.
Working principles
- Protect places for biodiversity, connectivity, climate resilience, and community value—not acreage alone.
- Respect Indigenous sovereignty, local land rights, free prior and informed consent, and community governance.
- Budget for permanent stewardship, monitoring, and legal durability before acquiring or restricting land.
Organizations and resources to learn from
These independent links are starting points for research. They are not endorsements, funding recommendations, or claims of partnership.
- Nature Needs Half — a coalition advancing large-scale, connected conservation
- Rainforest Trust — partner-led protection of threatened tropical habitats
- One Earth — science and place-based pathways for conservation and restoration
Near-term milestones
- Define ecological, social, governance, and permanence criteria for potential projects.
- Map existing land trusts and community-led conservation efforts before considering a new entity or acquisition.
- Develop one transparent case study with local leadership, long-term stewardship costs, and measurable outcomes.
Current status
Research and relationship-building. Lifeco is not yet operating a field program under this project.
How to help
We are looking for conservation biologists, land-trust practitioners, Indigenous and community-rights experts, real-estate attorneys, and stewardship funders. If that is you, contact Lifeco and mention this project.