The Rewilding Alliance
Resilience is Regional
The Rewilding Alliance is a network of community driven organizations within the rewilding movement that are all working under the same ethical principles under a “Best Practices” framework. The alliance exists in order to connect and support organizations and individuals in the rewilding movement operating at the highest level of ethics from a rewilding perspective. We came together in 2020 with the rise of groups, businesses, and individuals using the word rewilding in unethical ways that harm the “brand” and harm the cross cultural work that we have been building since the early 2000’s. We exist in order to support one another across time and space, and to help people looking to explore rewilding more deeply, which organizations are living up to the standards set by the rewilding community itself.
If you work with a community organization and are interested in joining the Rewilding Alliance, please contact us.
Best Practices IN Rewilding Community Organizations
Initially developed and implemented through Rewild Portland, this Table of Contents is an example of the themes we address together at rewilding community organizations.
Introduction
The Rewilding Alliance is a collection of autonomous organization collectivized around a shared vision of rewilding. Our shared vision begins with how we see, define, and practice rewilding, and leads into a collection of “best practices” for creating and maintaining community rewilding organizations. Membership to the alliance is both by invitation and application.
Learn to Fail with Grace: Mistakes will be made, and that’s okay
All process is iterative; meaning, we are adapting at all times to changing environments. That means we are susceptible to making mistakes and failures, and we have to be okay with that. These days people are so afraid of making mistakes that they simply fail to act. However, powerful learning happens through these failures and leads to increased fluency and adaptability. Forgiveness, of each other, and of ourselves, is paramount to growth.
Community Driven
Organizations my be community driven, not profit driven. This means we do not exist to make money, but to build connections. It also means community input plays an important role in the overall trajectory of practical application of rewilding.
“Enoughness” rather than “Growth”
We strive to create enough for everyone, rather than continuous surplus generation of wealth. This means we don’t work hard to create a surplus, nor do we seek to grow beyond our means. Enoughness means just that: enough for everyone, no more.
Non-profit Organization
On paper, to reflect the community driven nature of our organizations, organizations in the alliance must be structured as non-profits.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Mission and Plan
Rewilding is an important concept and practice that should be made accessible and welcome to as many people as possible. This means that each community organization needs to have a plan for doing so, including outreach.
Offer Free Classes Regularly
The core of any rewilding community is the accessible sharing of knowledge. While we have tuition based programming and accept donations to keep the organization a float and pay people who are dedicated to facilitating the community, we must stay true to the central vision by offering regular, free programs.
Non-discriminatory Policy
Rewilding is for everyone. Nature is not black and white, it is amorphous and in constant transformation. Nature does not discriminate. Wildness is the opposition to discrimination. Organinzations within the Rewilding Alliance shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of its activities or operations. These activities include, but are not limited to, hiring and firing of staff, selection of volunteers and vendors, and provision of services. We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of our staff, clients, volunteers, subcontractors, vendors, and clients.
Cultural Competency
Cultural ambassadors understand the intricacies of different groups and how to navigate them. Facilitators of rewilding organizations must strive to have this understanding, in order to bring together more people for rewilding.
Foraging Ethics
Foraging is a huge part of the practice of rewilding, and with it comes a lot of responsibilities. We have an instructive curriculum on the ethics of foraging for the Alliance that is too long and involved for this intro page. You can see more at this website.
Archaeological Ethics
Define
Archaeological ethics are ways of engaging with artifacts and the practice of ancestral technology that is often a part of the practice of rewilding, that maintain our values. Below is a brief intro to a more in depth topic we will cover elsewhere.
Stone Tool Production
Producing stone tools in traditional ways can lead to unforseen challenges within contemporary indigenous groups and the archaeological record. A stone point produced today can be indistinguishable from one produced 10,000 years ago. Careful consideration of this matter can lead to people labeling contemporary stone points with their initials and date to avoid confusion if misplaced and “discovered” by someone else.
Collection
In most places, it is illegal (and immoral) to collect artifacts that you find. This is because when items are removed from their context (for example the soil substrate in which they were left) their value in terms of what they can teach us about the human past, or a particular indigenous societies history can be destroyed. The best thing to do if you find artifacts, is to make a GPS waypoint on your phone, take a picture of the item, and send this information to the closest tribal archaeologist to the site where you found it. This just means looking up the closest tribal office (on google or wherever) and looking through their staff page for their archaeologist, or simply to the main account on their website.
Laws
Different countries have many different laws around archaeology. Too extensive to write about here, but important to know and understand.
Land Use
An important part of rewilding is access to land. Through the enclosure, privatization, and colonization, people have lost their ability to work the land collectively. Communities of rewilding should have a network to create access to more spaces.
Decolonization, from Allyship to Kinship
Rewilding is about building connections and relationships. It’s political in its drives to create access and dismantle the power structures that force us away from the land and to work to create a surplus for an elite few to dole out or hoard. Our relationships take precedent and strive for depth beyond simple allies. We want what Marshall Sahlins calls, “mutuality of being” wherein what happens to one person is felt by another as if it’s happening to them too.
Cultural Appropriation Policy
Define
Permission
Context
Stewardship
Our Principles Can Change