WCS 3-Sentence Science

Southeast Asia Conservation in 100 Questions

April 28, 2019

Photo credit: ©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 Matt Leggett, Matt Linkie, Tony Lynam, and Madhu Rao on biodiversity conservation in Southeast Asia:

1. Southeast Asia holds high regional biodiversity but is also one of the world’s most threatened regions on earth.
2. In the face of myriad pressing environmental problems, conservationists carried out a research prioritization exercise where 64 experts proposed the most pressing research questions which, if answered, would advance the goals of biodiversity conservation and sustainable development in SE Asia.
3. The themes of the top 100 questions indicate the need to evaluate specific drivers of biodiversity loss, study the effectiveness of practice-based solutions, the human dimension, and gaps in fundamental knowledge of ecosystem function.

Study and Journal: “Top 100 research questions for biodiversity conservation in Southeast Asia” from Biological Conservation
WCS Co-Author(s): Matt Leggett, Advisor, WCS Indonesia Program; Matt Linkie, Director of WCS Indonesia Program; Tony Lynam, WCS Senior Regional Advisor for Asia Programs; Madhu Rao, Senior Regional Advisor and Representative, WCS Singapore

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