In 1996 Wilderness began the ambitious program aimed at removing all fences that prevented local wildlife from roaming freely both within its reserve and in the neighboring Namib Rand Nature Reserve. As the ecosystem regained its health, wildlife began to return. Later, the fence dividing the Kulala Wilderness Reserve (KWR) from the Namib Rand Nature Reserve was also removed. Only the fences between the KWR and the adjacent Namib-Naukluft National Park remain, but they are not an obstacle to wildlife movement.