Op-Eds and Blogs

As the US government prepares to auction leases for drilling in the Arctic Refuge, Martin Robards and George Schaller argue that if we cannot afford a plan to fully clean up and restore an area, we cannot afford to drill new wells.

The Cambodia Vulture Working Group—comprised of NGOs, government bodies, and academic institutes—seeks to prevent the extinction of vultures in Cambodia. The CVWG joined other vulture conservationists on International Vulture Awareness Day to celebrate these special birds.

Palca is an Andean condor — the first in Bolivia to provide data on the movements of a species renowned for its huge wingspan, prodigious soaring ability and wide-ranging behavior.

Usually at this time of year, scientists with WCS Canada would be deep into their field seasons: monitoring bird migrations, tracking sturgeon, and listening to whales in the Arctic. Current circumstances have required a change in routine.

There are widespread concerns about opening the original text of CITES to address the risk zoonotic disease spillover. The best way to adapt CITES is through an addendum to the treaty itself: additive text covering zoonotic diseases and international trade.

While the mystery as to whether sawfish and rhino ray populations are alive and well in PNG has largely been solved, they are still rare and in need of additional conservation efforts if we are to make sure they don’t become mythical creatures of the past.

In the past, notes WCS's Lauren Oakes in a new commentary for Anthropocene magazine, forest restoration could be informed by what once was. Now we have to make hard decisions about what we’re working toward.

A new collaboration provides hope for the conservation of wedgefish and giant guitarfish in the Java Sea and Indonesia. While the high catches of these Critically Endangered species are worrying, they also indicate healthy and abundant populations

In a commentary at The Revelator prepared for Shark Week, Rhett Bennett, Dave van Beuningen and Mike Markovina argue that subsistence, artisanal and small-scale fisheries represent a previously unrecognized threat to many protected shark and ray species.

In Bangladesh, Ocean Guardians are paving the way to save threatened sharks and rays through improved knowledge and positive action, write Jamia Rahman Khan and Elisabeth Fahrni Mansur in a blog for Shark Week.

Over the next 25 years, writes WCS's Luke Hunter in a new commentary for World Lion Day, WCS will work to increase lion numbers in the sites where we work by at least 50 percent — or 2000 to 2250 more wild lions.

Addressing shark and ray fisheries in India requires a multi-pronged approach of safeguarding livelihoods while addressing the decline of shark and ray populations. Read the Shark Week blog by WCS-India's Zoya Tyabji.

All strategies to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic havoc it has wreaked must respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples over their territories and resources, and maintain a diverse and healthy planet.

During Shark Week, write WCS's Luke Warwick, we will showcase how a range of WCS marine programs are tackling the crisis facing the world’s sharks based on scientific advice supported by our own and the wider communities’ research.

The tigers in Thailand's Huai Kha Khaeng reserve show us what the species is capable of when we take the pressure off. If we can continue to do that, in as many tiger source sites as possible, we will save Asia’s great cat.

If muntjacs are to be preserved, greater public awareness of their plight is required. On Vietnam’s Dalat Plateau and in Lao’s Nakai–Nam Theun National Protected Area, conservation appears possible.