WCS 3-Sentence Science

Speaking Up for Animal Migration

December 26, 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 Joel Berger on the critical importance of inspiring the public and more scientists to prioritize the protection of wildlife migrations.

1. In this opinion piece WCS conservationist Joel Berger makes the argument that for conservation to succeed across broad scales, more vocal scientists are needed.
2. He says that despite burgeoning data sets coupled with substantive concerns about the persistence of land, water, and aerial migrations, not enough is being done to sustain Earth’s animal migrations, and that the public must be motivated, and attendant concerns rendered into policy actions to protect them.
3. He says that universities need to restructure their internal reward systems so that faculty can be incentivized for biodiversity activities to benefit ecological health, and that regardless of age or background, spokespersons from all walks of life must emerge and defend migration as an intrinsic and important component of biodiversity and its conversation.

Study and Journal: “The endangered phenomenon of animal migration, and the dissonance between doing science and achieving conservation” from The Ecological Citizen
WCS Co-Author(s): Joel Berger (Lead), WCS Americas Program

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