I was lucky to be part of the last episode of the latest episode of the BBC’s Podcast “Costing the Earth“, which is dedicated to the impact of Chinese Traditional Medicine on Wildlife Trade. I talked about the potential impacts of the expansion of the use of Traditional Chinese Medicine around the world and the … [Read more…]
EXTRA! EXTRA! Just out in the journal Conservation Biology is a review of of demand reduction interventions for wildlife trade products. My co-author Anita Wan and I reviewed more than 200 campaigns and look at they were distributed through time, space and in terms of biological groups (see below). We also looked at what information … [Read more…]
I had the change to talk to Mongabay.com about the importance of social science in conservation , and more specifically about the use of marketing techniques to influence human behaviours and achieve conservation goals. Have a listen below!
Recently I had a paper out in Conservation Biology (led by Gabby Salazar) that focused on a qualitative method to evaluate the long term contribution impact of a social marketing intervention. Gabby used General Elimination Methodology, a theory driven qualitative evaluation method, to assess the long-term impacts of a social marketing campaign on human behavior … [Read more…]
The Lost & Found Project was featured in the latest edition of Positive News! This inspiring current affairs magazine is a pioneer of ‘constructive journalism’ – an emerging approach in the media towards rigorous and relevant reporting that is focused on solutions, not doom and gloom. On the same note, we were also featured in … [Read more…]
The tiny Mediterranean country of Malta is often on the news for the trials and tribulations involving birds, hunters and conservationists. After a 2015 national referendum on Spring hunting ended with a very (very) narrow victory for the hunting camp, there are now discussions around the possibility of a second referendum on the same issue. … [Read more…]
NEW RESEARCH! Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) play a key role in biodiversity conservation. The majority of these organisations rely on public donations to fund their activities, and therefore fundraising success is a determinant of conservation outcomes. In spite of this integral relationship, the key principals for fundraising success in conservation are still guided by expert opinion … [Read more…]
Fresh of press is a new article in the journal Animal Conservation (FULL TEXT HERE). In it we describe an intervention to reduce demand for bushmeat in northern Tanzania. The intervention was centered around the 1-h radio show My Wildlife – My Community which included 15-min episodes of the radio drama Temboni, designed by PCI … [Read more…]
Some stories are just too alluring not to be true. On of these self perpetuating narratives suggests Harry Potter, the boy wizard that keeps a snowy owl as a pet, was leading to an increase in demand for pet owls in the UK. Even J.K. Rowling, the creator of Harry Potter, released multiple statements asking … [Read more…]
Measuring change is hard. But it is also critical to programs hoping to influence human behaviour towards more positive societal outcomes. In a newly published paper, Does It Work for Biodiversity? Experiences and Challenges in the Evaluation of Social Marketing Campaigns, we tackle the challenge of evaluating social marketing campaigns targeting fishing communities in the … [Read more…]