Go Wild at the World Wilderness Congress—Without Leaving Home

If you aren't attending WILD9--the weeklong World Wilderness Congress (November 6-13) that will bring together many of the world's leading conservationists and wilderness experts to debate and take action on critical environmental issues--you can still pull up a chair and join in through a variety of social networking tools that The WILD Foundation is using to broaden global participation in the event.

The WILD Foundation started the World Wilderness Congress in 1977, and over the past 32 years it has become a respected international forum that fosters thoughtful debate on a range of important environmental issues and leads to practical conservation measures that get results. The World Wilderness Congress convenes every three or four years and attracts experts and interested parties worldwide--from leaders in government and the private sector to native peoples, academics and artists.

WILD9--the ninth World Wilderness Congress and the first time the event has been held in Latin America (Merida, Mexico in the Yucatan)--will feature a keynote by Dr. Jane Goodall and sessions by other experts such as Dr. Amory Lovins, chairman and chief scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute, Nobel laureate Dr. Mario Molina. Gaia expert Stephan Harding, Economist Pavan Sukhdev, and Pati Ruiz Corzo, federal director of the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve and a leader in Mexico's civil conservation movement. Critical topics will include climate change, fresh water scarcity, and loss of biodiversity.

Here's how you can stay connected and in the loop during WILD9:

• Visit www.wild9.org for up-to-date information from the World Wilderness Congress, including videos, photos, and live blogs and tweets.

• Watch key lectures and sessions live on the WILD9 channel on USTREAM (you'll need to RSVP for individual sessions and log on with your Facebook account)
• Get streamed content from youth delegates on the WILD9 Qik channel
• Check out The Wild Foundation's Flickr photostream
• Follow the action with live tweets from @WILD9 and @WILDfoundation.

And if you decide to check out WILD9 through any of these tools, come back and leave a comment to share your experiences and observations with everyone here at About.com: Environmental Issues.

_{Photo by Brand X Pictures/Getty Images}