History

Since its inception in 1994 as the Global Survival Network, the organization now known as Wildlife Alliance has worked with local governments, communities and other like-minded non-governmental organizations to implement cutting edge programs in Southeast Asia, Russia, South America, and the Western Pacific that protect wildlife in the field, fight the illegal trade of wildlife parts, reduce consumer demand, and provide alternative livelihoods to illegal trading for local communities.

1994: A group of conservationists establishes the environmental and human rights group Global Survival Network.

1996: Barbara Delano Foundation provides field program design for the Wildlife Conservation Society of India to protect the Olive Ridley turtle populations from being destroyed by industrial trawlers and nesting which had plummeted to an all-time low. Following this results-oriented field program, turtle nestings increased to 683,900 in 1999 and to over 1,008,683 in 2000.

1997: GSN and Barbara Delano Foundation help partner with local conservation leader Sergei Bereznuk to establish an independent Russian conservation NGO, Phoenix Fund, to sustain anti-poaching and public education work to save the Amur tiger and Amur leopard.

1999: Global Survival Network merges with partners to become WildAid.

2000: WildAid begins Care for Rescued Wildlife program at Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center in Cambodia, providing humane enclosures and skilled veterinary care to more than 1000 victims of the illegal wildlife trade, including elephants, tigers, great apes and many other species.

2001: WildAid launches Cambodia Conservation Program (CCP), a systematic attempt to protect Cambodia's wilderness and wildlife, stop trading and wildlife trafficking, and educate Cambodians about protecting their environment.

2001: Cambodia program creates "Wilderness Protection Mobile Unit" – now known as the Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team (WRRT) – to stop poachers, traders, and sellers, of wildlife and wildlife products. To date, WRRT has rescued 32,000 live animals and stopped 90% of restaurants in Phnom Penh from serving illegal wildlife dishes.

2002: WildAid works in Burma's first national park, Alangdaw Kathapa, to train agencies on wildlife protection, monitoring, and community outreach.

2002: With funding from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Marine Seascapes program begins work in two Mexican marine protected areas and the Galapagos Marine Protected Area, providing resources and training to governments and agencies which enables them to protect fish, sea turtles, marine mammals and coral reef ecosytems.

2002: WildAid helps establish Community Agriculture Development Program. Working with landless farmers in Southwestern Cambodia, WildAid evaluates their development needs and assists them in relocating out of protected areas into the Sovanna Baitong agricultural village.

2004: WildAid convinces government of Thailand to advocate for a regional wildlife law enforcement network to address Southeast Asia's role as a shipment hub for illegal wildlife products.

2004: WildAid launches Kouprey Express Mobile Environmental Education Unit, which travels through rural Cambodia teaching schoolchildren and villagers about wildlife, the environment, and how to meet community needs without degrading natural resources.

2005: With initial funding from US Agency for International Development, WildAid becomes the lead support NGO for the ASEAN - Wildlife Enforcement Network.

2005: WildAid conducts an initial assessment of wildlife and habitat threats in Gunung Leuser, Indonesia. When the Boxing Day tsunami devastates the region weeks later, WildAid returns to conduct a post-tsunami assessment to help Indonesian government agencies respond to the crisis.

2006: Phoenix Fund's Director, Sergei Beruznuk, wins a £30,000 Whitley Award recognizing his "outstanding achievements in nature conservation" related to re-routing an oil pipeline away from the habitat of critically endangered Amur leopards.

2006: WildAid board agrees to divide organization's activities into two separate non-profit organizations: Wildlife Alliance with same U.S. non-profit registration and founding directors conducting field operations in Southeast Asia, Russia, and the Western Pacific, and a new separate organization with the name WildAid conducting Active Conservation Awareness, Shark Conservation, and Galapagos Islands programs.

2007: Original WildAid changes name to Wildlife Alliance.

2007: CNN's Anderson Cooper 360° two-part series, Planet in Peril, features Wildlife Alliance programs in Thailand and Cambodia, including Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center, Bokor National Park, and efforts to stop the transboundary illegal wildlife trade in Asia.

2007: Wildlife Alliance Care for Rescued Wildlife program rescues 72 mammals, 140 birds and 27 reptiles from degraded Angkor Zoo in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

2007: Animal Planet's Crime Scene Wild series, hosted by Steve Galster, airs in Europe and subsequently Asia.

2008: Wildlife Alliance co-founder Steve Galster testifies to Congress on the illegal wildlife trade and efforts to protect endangered species.