"In nature nothing exists alone" - Rachel Carson "Wildlife has the power to recover, and people have the power to change" - Sir David Attenborough "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping" - Nancy Rogers (mother of Mister) "All flourishing is mutual" - Robin Wall Kimmerer "Anything not saved will be lost" - Nintendo Quit Screen "In wildness is the preservation of the world" - Henry David Thoreau
About
Many people want to help, but it can be hard to figure out where to start.
Wild Green Future uses community enthusiasm and fun to help wildlife and people coexist. You can support our work by donating, see past projects by scrolling down, and join the effort for a better world by volunteering in the community science and conservation projects featured in the "Take Action" section.
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Projects
Scroll down to explore Wild Green Future's projects!
2025
Sustaining the Brazil Nut Corridor
Most of the world's Brazil nut supply comes from Madre de Dios, where a belt of designated concessions are stewarded by harvesters known as concessionaires. Brazil nut trees’ life cycle requires intact tropical rainforest, so as long as the harvest is sufficient these concessions will continue to support a wildlife corridor the size of Connecticut.
Our partner, The Alliance for a Sustainable Amazon, works to assist Brazil nut concessionaires in maintaining the productivity of their forests by holding workshops on Brazil nut cultivation and raising seedlings to be planted in forest gaps.
Sustained funding is vital for the success of conservation projects. Wild Green Future was proud to make 2025 our fifth year of supporting this program.
Planting a Sweetgrass Restoration Garden
Wild Green Future gave Duke University School of Nursing and Rocky Boy Indian Reservation a microgrant to support the establishment of a sweetgrass restoration garden during their annual summer camp.
From Operations Coordinator Kristin: “We…had some amazing experiences with the kids at camp, one of the highlights of which was the establishment of our sweetgrass restoration garden, courtesy of Wild Green Future!”
Funding for 2024-2025 microgrants was generously provided by a donation from Angry Birds!
Expanding a Food Forest
Wild Green Future gave the Kilrush Food Forest in Lexington, Kentucky a microgrant to purchase native plants.
From Head Thaumaturge Leandro: “We were able to greatly expand the native habitat in Lexington KY's Kilrush Food Forest while taking even more municipal land out of mow.”
Funding for 2024-2025 microgrants was generously provided by a donation from Angry Birds!
Creating Urban Butterfly Habitat
The US devotes an area roughly the size of New York State to mowed lawns. Converting even a fraction of that space to usable habitat could serve as a huge boost to flagging insect populations.
Wild Green Future gave the Urban Butterfly Initiative in Charleston, Illinois a microgrant to convert a local bike shop’s front lawn into space for pollinators.
From Executive Director Paul: "We had a great group of people help install our native plants in May and they are becoming established. As we hoped, the project is getting a lot of attention with passers-by and visitors to the bike shop asking questions and excited to see it develop, so the education aspect of the project is happening as well!"
Funding for 2024-2025 microgrants was generously provided by a donation from Angry Birds!
Fundraising with Native Plants
Native plants are vital to healthy wildlife habitat, and Wild Green Future is always looking for ways to do as much conservation as possible with each dollar we receive.
Wild Green Future gave the Friends of Deckers Creek in Morgantown, West Virginia a microgrant to support their purchase native plants for a plant sale fundraiser!
Plants sold supported their local ecosystem, and funds from sales helped the folks at Friends of Deckers Creek protect their local waterway.
From Friends of Deckers Creek Katie: "We used the $500 to buy native plants... and then sold them to raise money for Friends of Deckers Creek... We ended up raising a total of over $1000 for Friends of Deckers Creek... Overall it was a great success, and I cannot thank you enough for making it all possible!"
Funding for 2024-2025 microgrants was generously provided by a donation from Angry Birds!
Building Birdhouses
Wild Green Future gave the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois a microgrant to build birdhouses, which they installed around their campus.
From Outdoor Lab and Prairie Manager Anna: "Our project went fabulously... We had 14 tree swallow nests, 1 northern house wren nest, 1 bluebird nest, and 3 rounds of wood ducks. Students and community volunteers helped collect the data and thousands of people on tours have heard about the program."
Funding for 2024-2025 microgrants was generously provided by a donation from Angry Birds!
Staffing Conservation in the Amazon
The Alliance for a Sustainable Amazon (ASA)'s mission is to conserve the biodiversity and natural resources of the Peruvian Amazon for the benefit of all those who live in and depend on the rainforest. Based in Madre de Dios, they work by combining research and education with community-based conservation, acting as a resource to their neighbors across the region.
Good work takes people power. Wild Green Future provided a grant to support ASA's Lepidoptera Project Manager, Lepidoptera Project Lead Assistant, and Lead Resident Naturalist positions.
Learn more about the Alliance for a Sustainable Amazon on their website, linked here!
Conserving an Imperiled Butterfly
The frosted elfin is small brown butterfly that is declining throughout its geographic range. It occurs in small, localized populations, and its caterpillars specialize in sundial lupine and wild indigo. Extremely vulnerable to habitat destruction and fragmentation, frosted elfin populations have been lost from 7 of the 10 locations in Florida where they were present just since 2017.
Due to the species' decline and difficulty dispersing between potential habitats, a strong captive breeding program is needed. The Daniels Lab at the Florida Museum of Natural History's McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity has over 30 years' experience in captive breeding of at-risk taxa, including the Miami blue butterfly and Schaus's swallowtail.
After the success of the Daniels Lab's previous work to establish a captive colony from Florida's frosted elfin populations, Wild Green Future provided a grant supporting the establishment of a separate breeding program for frosted elfins originating from Virginian populations. Additionally, grant funds supported nonlethal genetic sampling from the Virginian populations and monitoring trainings for state wildlife agency staff.
Learn more about the work being done by the Daniels Lab on their website, linked here!
Florida Trail Passport
The Florida Trail Association is a nonprofit organization that develops, maintains, protects, and promotes the Florida National Scenic Trail and other hiking trails in Florida.
Wild Green Future provided them with a small grant to support the printing of their "Trail Passport", a booklet that provides a fun way for hikers to document their progress and to encourage interaction with the trail's 16 "Gateway Communities".
You can learn more about the Florida Trail Association on their website, linked here!
Expanding Conservation Infrastructure
Alliance for a Sustainable Amazon (ASA)'s mission is to conserve the biodiversity and natural resources of the Peruvian Amazon for the benefit of all those who live in and depend on the rainforest. Based in Madre de Dios, they work by combining research and education with community-based conservation, acting as a resource to their neighbors across the region.
ASA's field station, Finca las Piedras, required infrastructural expansions to support greater conservation and research efforts. Wild Green Future provided a grant to support the improvement and maintenance of living quarters across the field station, and the emergency repair of the access road leading to the station. These improvements helped enable operations threatened by road damage to continue and living conditions for staff and visitors to remain pleasant.
Wild Green Future also contributed to the construction of a new lab and work space in the nearby city of Puerto Maldonado.
It can be easier to fundraise for certain tasks, like planting trees and conserving charismatic animals, but organizations are often more limited by less exciting factors. Despite their crucial role, these everyday concerns can be much more difficult to find funding for. This mismatch provides Wild Green Future with an opportunity: by funding infrastructure costs, we are able to help expand our partners' operational capacity, leading to much more benefit per dollar spent than might otherwise be obtainable.
Learn more about the Alliance for a Sustainable Amazon on their website, linked here!