On World Wetlands Day 2017, Dogwood Alliance stepped forward to enrich the wetland conservation movement. On this date, Dogwood Alliance launched the Wetland Forest Initiative (WFI). WFI is a broad and diverse coalition of partners and organizations across the South that joined together with a simple mission:

To conserve, restore, and improve Southern wetland forests to strengthen our communities through science-based actions, diverse partnerships, and citizen and landowner engagement.

Now, the Wetland Forest Initiative is taking a big step of its own.

In May 2018, the Initiative met for their final strategic planning session. This meeting is a milestone for WFI because its results will dictate the course of action for wetland conservation for the next five years.

This meeting took three days, where diverse voices finalized the strategy and successfully developed innovative ways to conserve, restore, and improve Southern wetland forest.

A big part of the meeting’s success was that the organizations and individuals from different backgrounds and points of view had an open mindset and were willing to listen to one another and collaborate in order to build a shared vision:

Abundant wetland forests for healthy human and natural communities.

This meeting took place at Walnut Creek Wetland Center in Raleigh, NC, a perfect spot to discover local wetlands. Walnut Creek Center’s goal is to make people aware of the importance of wetlands for clean water, habitat, and recreation while emphasizing the importance of human interaction with nature.

Learn more about the value of Southern wetland forests

Show your support for WFI’s work to protect wetland forests