In the popular press
Cash of the Titans

The trade in wildlife has received a lot of coverage in the last year but we almost never think of insects when we think of the wildlife trade. I was happy to have participated in the documentary “Cast of the Titans” that sheds light on this trade, with a particular focus on the titan beetle … [Read more…]
Have you met Eric?

Eric is a Pangolin and he has started a vlog (check it out below!). This is part of the development of the Youtbe Channel of On the Edge Conservation where we will have not only Eric but also other EDGE species talk about their daily lives… For now you can also check out a vlog … [Read more…]
Five reasons people buy illegal wildlife products – and how to stop them

Laura Thomas-Walters, University of Stirling; Amy Hinsley, University of Oxford, and Diogo Veríssimo, University of Oxford A British tourist on a tropical beach poses for a photo with a cute monkey-like animal. A Vietnamese man buys some rhino-horn powder and brags to his friends about its potency. An orchid collector admires their latest purchase, a … [Read more…]
Do celebrity endorsements really help environmental campaigns? We found no evidence

Alegria Olmedo, University of Oxford; Dan Challender, University of Oxford, and Diogo Veríssimo, University of Oxford Arsenal footballer Hector Bellerin recently partnered with a reforestation charity and pledged to plant 3,000 trees every time his team won. This is just one example of the now widespread use of celebrities like him in environmental conservation marketing … [Read more…]
How can we stop people wanting to buy illegal wildlife products?

Laura Thomas-Walters, University of Kent; Bob Smith, University of Kent, and Diogo Veríssimo, University of Oxford Conservationists have been working for decades to save species such as pangolins and rhinos from illegal hunting and trading. And, with fears that the coronavirus pandemic originated from the wildlife trade, there’s never been more pressure to find solutions. … [Read more…]
COVID and Wildlife trade Explainer for Channel 4

A couple of weeks back I did an interview for a video explainer for Chanel 4 in the UK. It was great to have time to got into the detail and present a more nuanced perspective of the issue, beyond the headlines and soundbites that are featured in much of the press around this issue. … [Read more…]
Coronavirus: why a blanket ban on wildlife trade would not be the right response

Dan Challender, University of Oxford; Amy Hinsley, University of Oxford; Diogo Veríssimo, University of Oxford, and Michael ‘t Sas-Rolfes, University of Oxford The early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic have been linked to a “wet” market in Wuhan, in the Hubei province of eastern China. Wet markets are common in Asia, Africa and elsewhere, selling … [Read more…]
Finding Dory did not increase demand for pet fish despite viral media stories

Diogo Veríssimo, University of Oxford If a piece of information is repeated often enough, it will eventually be believed, even if there is no evidence for it. One example of this features the friendly clownfish Nemo and his side-kick Dory, a blue tang fish, who you may know from the animated blockbusters Finding Nemo and … [Read more…]
Costing the Earth Podcast – Talking about the illegal wildlife trade

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…]