The mission of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation is to promote worldwide understanding of the importance of biodiversity and of the preservation of our biological heritage. Among our projects is the development of educational materials in life science for high school and undergraduate students and the general public that will improve global understanding of the nature and diversity of all of life on Earth and why it must be conserved.
WE ARE COMMITTED TO EDUCATION
Renowned nature videographer Bob Poole filmed Ed Wilson’s ecology lessons during the 2011 Gorongosa expedition.
We are developing the concept of endowed content—the creation of high-quality educational materials that will be supported and updated over time by the Foundation and made available to students at little or no cost. Thanks to the generosity of our supporters, the Foundation has a full-time team of 15 educators, scientists, 3D graphics artists, multimedia developers, and textbook professionals at work developing E. O. Wilson’s Life on Earth, a pioneering digital biology textbook for high school students. In 41 chapters, Life on Earth will deliver a complete curriculum of fresh, sophisticated, and engaging lessons. Today’s biology students will be tomorrow’s biochemists, explorers, environmental policy makers, park rangers, and informed citizens. E. O. Wilson’s Life on Earth is being created to prepare them for their work.
Every species on Earth has been adapted by thousands to millions of years of evolution to the particularities of the environment in which it lives. Its genotype is different from that of all other species. The traits its genes prescribe are also unique, in biochemistry, anatomy, physiology, and behavior, and in the way it interacts with other species, and serves the ecosystem it inhabits. Each species, in short, is a living encyclopedia of how to survive on planet Earth.”
—Edward O. Wilson
OUR VISION IS GLOBAL
Cheetahs imported from South Africa await release from the sanctuary area into Gorongosa National Park.
We are partners with the Gorongosa Restoration Project in Mozambique, where an unprecedented ecological restoration project is underway. Until the 1970s, Gorongosa National Park hosted one of the highest densities of wildlife in the world. Decades of war disrupted its giant herd migrations and superabundance of wild creatures. Its recovery is an epic story. Under the shared management of the Mozambican government and American philanthropist Gregory C. Carr’s Gorongosa Restoration Project, the re-wilding of Gorongosa National Park is a model for the world. With the support of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Wilson Foundation is developing online multimedia materials that will allow the world to watch this great work unfold.
The Foundation’s work is shaped by the inspiration and guidance of Edward O. Wilson, scientist, teacher, and writer. We welcome collaboration with those who share his vision and sense of urgency about humanity’s role in shaping its environment and its future.
