It's aim, according to the group's organizer, bushcraft instructor Dave Watson, is to  help safeguard the industry.  "There are lots of schools starting up, and we need to show that we know what we're doing", he said in an interview.

The IOL is a professional body funded by member subscription, and was set up in 2001 to help regulate outdoor education.

The special interest group outlined the following agenda:

a) To create universally accepted working procedures for the running of basic sessions relating to the subject in order to establish good/best practice especially in the subjects of wild food use/consumption, safe shelter construction and tool safety.