The Professional Association of Wilderness Guides and Instructors was founded in 1998 by a group of independent guides and instructors who saw the need for the development of standards in the training and certification of wilderness guiding professionals.

The Professional Association of Wilderness Guides and Instructors (PAWGI) is a not-for-profit professional association federally incorporated in Canada under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act. The organization establishes standards and certifications specific to wilderness guiding and instructions, and trains as well as certifies wilderness professionals in various countries around the world.

PAWGI is headquartered in British Columbia, Canada, also known as "The Best Place on Earth".


The PAWGI educational standards are continously improved and reviewed by a technical committee composed of Certified Wilderness Instructor Trainers each representing a specific region:

Name	Office
Bruce C. Kenwood, CWIT	President
Christopher G. Fragassi, CWIT	Technical Director, Canada
Joshua P. Wilkinson, CWIT	Technical Director, USA
Imanol Amercaray, CWIT	Technical Director, France
Michel Gobin, CWIT	Technical Director, Belgium/Luxembourg
Maarten Harteveld, CWI	Technical Director, The Netherlands
Anewa Whanganui, CWIT	Technical Director, Pacific
Aaron Robertson, CWIT	Technical Director, Africa
Adrian Tolstoy, CWIT	Technical Director, Russia
Estevan Cortes, CWIT	Technical Director, South America
Hiroshi Yamaki, CWIT	Technical Director, Asia

PAWGI trained and certified its first Wilderness Guides in Kluane National Park and Reserve in the Yukon Territory, Canada, in 1998.

More than 10 years later, the Professional Association of Wilderness Guides and Instructors trains and certifies guides around the world under standards that meet or exceed the minimum requirements of most national parks and wilderness areas across the globe.

Today, PAWGI includes professionals in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Nepal, India, Malaysia, Japan, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Spain, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Kenya, and South Africa.

PAWGI's name and logo, protected under federal law, are a symbol of high professional wilderness guiding standards in most wildernesses of the world.


PAWGI's wilderness expertise is derived, in part, from its birth in the world's largest untouched wilderness, Canada, and thus, its intrisic appreciation for wilderness.

Quicklinks ProCheck reports & publications standards contact