Highlights from WCN’s 20th Anniversary Expo

This fall’s Wildlife Conservation Expo just concluded, a week of virtual presentations showcasing the incredible work of our Conservation Partners and some exciting guests to protect endangered wildlife around the world. This week-long celebration of wildlife is the highlight of every year, as it’s our opportunity to share the tremendous impact that your support has helped create for conservation.

For those of you who were unable to attend all of this year’s Expo activities, or if you simply want to relive the week’s biggest moments, look no further!

• This year’s Expo was truly unique in that it celebrated WCN’s 20th Anniversary, a culmination of all the hard work and vision started by Charles Knowles, Akiko Yamazaki, and John Lukas back in 2002. In the last 20 years, thanks to the generosity of our donors, WCN has raised over $250 million for wildlife conservation. WCN has protected over 115 different wildlife species across nearly 70 countries, our Scholarship and Career Programs have supported 160 local conservation leaders, and our Wildlife Funds have granted to over 650 projects to date.

• Throughout Expo Week, people attended virtually from nearly every corner of the globe—tuning in from Ecuador, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Tunisia, and so many other countries. We’re always thrilled to bring together our global community of wildlife enthusiasts and supporters for engaging presentations about the state of conservation.

• Expo week was capped off by a remarkable in-person event celebrating WCN’s history and impact. This special night featured an appearance by Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, a conservation legend and long-time WCN supporter, who joined WCN Co-founder Charles Knowles on stage for a warm fireside chat. They were later joined by other WCN co-founders, board members, and leaders to discuss their vision for WCN’s next 20 years. Over 1,000 attendees filled the theater for this landmark occasion.

• There were some fascinating guest speakers at Expo this year—Seratu Aatai shared their work protecting elephants in Borneo and the Gorongosa Project talked about their efforts to protect elephants in Mozambique. The Hirola Conservation Program talked about the conservation of giraffes in Kenya and Proyecto Washu talked about protecting the habitat of brown-headed spider monkeys. And covering marine wildlife, the Misool Foundation, Sea Sense, and the African Marine Mammal Conservation Organization all detailed the grand scope of their work to defend aquatic habitats and wildlife, such as coral reefs, sea turtles, dugongs, dolphins, and manatees.

From all of us at WCN, thank you for attending the Wildlife Conservation Expo, for supporting us throughout our 20 years of operation, and for caring about our planet’s precious wildlife. Your continued support and full hearts are what make all of our accomplishments possible, and we remain in awe of everything we’ve achieved together for wildlife across the globe. Expo isn’t just a celebration of our work, but a chance for you to reconnect with the friends and conservationists who have helped make our community so special over the years. We hope you had a truly amazing time, because you made our anniversary one for the history books.

If you missed any Expo presentations or want to rewatch some of your favorites, you can find all of them here.