WCS 3-Sentence Science

A Manifesto for Predictive Conservation

November 22, 2019

CREDIT: JULIE LARSEN MAHER/WCS

Each year, Wildlife Conservation Society scientists publish more than 300 peer-reviewed studies and papers. “WCS 3-Sentence Science” is a regular tip-sheet — in bite sized helpings — of some of this published work.

Here we present work by WCS’s James Watson on predictive approaches to conservation based on knowledge gleaned from other fields.

1. If efforts to tackle biodiversity loss and its impact on human wellbeing are to be successful, conservation must learn from other fields, such as military studies, public health and finance, which use predictive methods to foresee shocks and pre-empt their impacts in the face of uncertainty.
2. Researchers critically assess how predictive approaches can transform the way conservation scientists and practitioners plan for and implement social and behavioral change among people living with wildlife.
3. This manifesto for predictive conservation recognizes that social-ecological systems are dynamic, uncertain and complex, and calls on conservationists to embrace the forward-thinking approach which effective conservation requires.

Study and Journal: “A manifesto for predictive conservation” from Biological Conservation
WCS Co-Author(s): James Watson, Director, Science and Research Initiative

For more information, contact: Stephen Sautner, 718–220–3682, ssautner@wcs.org.