Conserving biodiversity in human-dominated regions of the world is complex, particularly in case of large carnivores where perceived conflicts exist with economic development, expanding human populations and livelihoods. In a new paper I co-authored with Abishek Harihar and Douglas MacMillan, we used choice modelling to understand the preferences of local communities and explore alternative strategies … [Read more…]
A new paper lead by Amy Hinsley and co-authored by me and David Roberts talks about how rarity is a key driver of preference for those that are serious about their orchids. Orchids are one of the best-selling plants in the legal horticultural trade but are also traded illegally and make up 70% of all … [Read more…]
Maltese News Channel ONE News covered our article on the Conservation on how the use of military metaphors is changing the ability to stakeholders to engage in negotiation! Really great to see out reflections get to the mainstream media!
By Diogo Veríssimo, Georgia State University and Brian Campbell, University of Kent As the world’s tigers, elephants, rhinos and pangolins continue to be poached, smuggled and sold, wildlife conservationists have declared war on wildlife trafficking and illegal hunting. These “wildlife wars” have received wide media coverage and led to an exceptional increase in enforcement through, … [Read more…]
Today my piece on the importance of demand reduction was published in the conversation.com! Read it below! Poaching rhinos for their horns is one of the most publicized conservation issues worldwide. From global trade bans and surveillance drones, to the involvement of celebrities such as British royal Prince Charles and NBA star Yao Ming, it … [Read more…]
Scientists love to talk to other scientists but while this is an importance part of the scientific process, the reluctance to engage with those outside scientific circles is a likely contributor to the growing distrust between scientists and the public. The project “BIOgraphies: The lives of those who study life”, in the original Portuguese “BIOgrafias: … [Read more…]
I was interviewed for the environmental website Mongabay.com on the potential for using marketing techniques to improve the way conservationists do outreach. In this piece I dwell on how marketing can offer a set of important tools to conservationists and on what can be improved in the way we do outreach (spoiler: there is LOTS)! … [Read more…]
The Fifa World Cup host, Brazil, has been criticised for failing to make environmental policy changes it promised ahead of the championships. Even the Fifa mascot, Fuleco the armadillo, is under fire. The furry mascot, whose name combines the Portuguese words for football and ecology, is failing to promote the conservation of the latter. In this piece in the … [Read more…]
To celebrate the first anniversary of my biodiversity themed social media platform “I fucking love biodiversity” I wrote this blog post on conservation bytes reviewing some of the challenges of keeping this effort going! Have a read here! IFLB has now more than 17 500 fans across Facebook, Twitter and Google+ and we are just getting … [Read more…]
Many scientists invest their time peer-reviewing articles without receiving any compensation, besides a metaphorical pat on the back. To try and start tackling this issue me and Dave Roberts, also from the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, published a note in Trends in Ecology and Evolution on how we can put peer-reviewing on the map by making it … [Read more…]