This year’s meeting of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is being curtailed by the COVID-19 outbreak. Ironically, the pandemic most likely first emerged from wildlife being traded in a live animal market.

The ultimate goal of CITES listings is fewer dead sharks and rays. That means hard work globally to implement trade regulations. A major new program of the Shark Conservation Fund will play a key role.

In a new commentary for Scientific American, WCS's Chris Walzer and his colleague Nick Robinson argue that as the world triages COVID-19, we also need to triage how to prevent future zoonotic outbreaks.

With new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) reported each day across the globe, we are reminded that coming into close contact with wildlife, their body parts, and excreta poses a risk of spillover of the pathogens to human populations.

WCS is engaged with Singapore-based banks to counter global and regional wildlife trafficking—stemming illicit financial flows to save endangered populations of rhino, hornbills, elephants, and pangolins.

Despite their immensity, the seas will be irreversibly depleted of life if nothing change. In a new study published in One Earth, WCS’s Kendall Jones and James Watson assess what is needed to save Earth’s marine biodiversity.

On World Wildlife Day, we celebrate the collaborative attitude of toward jaguar conservation and recognize the diversity of local actors needed to make on-the-ground action effective.

"Despite the conservation challenges confronting these forested landscapes of Nicaragua, I can testify that they still provide basic necessities to the Indigenous communities that live in them," says WCS's Fabricio Díaz Santos.

"In one critical respect," argues WCS's James Watson in an op-ed for World Wildlife Day, "the current global strategic plan for biodiversity is simply not working. We must embrace a new approach that directly targets the conservation of ecosystems."

"The high mountain and vast temperate grasslands of Central Asia are havens for some of the world’s most spectacular assemblages of migratory mammals in the world," write WCS's Enkhtuvshin Shiilegdamba, Kirk Olson, and Alfred DeGemmis.

"John Weaver has packed a formidable number of accomplishments into his adventures across the wild landscapes of western North America in his 50-year career as a conservation biologist," writes WCS Canada's Justina Ray.

Belize recently enacted the Fisheries Resources Act. This bipartisan, forward-looking fisheries bill protects both marine species and livelihoods. The WCS Belize Program is excited to support what will be a huge undertaking to realize its full implementation.

Roads and the access they create can dramatically reshape an entire region. Understanding these consequences is vital if we want to sustain nature’s services and the Indigenous communities that depend on them..

The Government of Indonesia, with support from WCS and the Shark Conservation Fund, is developing a range of management measures for CITES-listed sharks and rays, including catch limits for silky sharks and mako sharks.

Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species are reviewing implementation of initiatives and plans for individual flyways, studies on the illegal killing and trade in migratory bird species, and efforts around power lines, light pollution, and more.

Jaguars cross borders with frequency and regularity," notes WCS's Maria del Carmen Fleytas. "We have a unique opportunity to increase the large scale, transboundary conservation collaborations that the species needs to persist."