At a time when 80 percent of the world’s forests have been degraded for agriculture and other human activities, a new approach is taking shape in Cambodia’s Northern Plains.There, an initiative to support sustainable rice production is reducing deforestation and helping to protect endangered bird species like the giant and white-shouldered ibis. The WCS-managed Ibis Rice links jasmine rice farmers to international consumer markets to achieve environmental protection and fairtrade prices to local communities.For more information on Ibis Rice and its products, visit: https://ibisrice.com/Reporting: Hannah KaplanGuest: Nicholas Spencer and Keo Socheat
It’s Bat Week. White-nose syndrome is a deadly fungus that’s wiping out bats across North America. New research makes the case that it’s having a direct negative impact on human health, too. WCS Canada has an innovative solution to address the problem. Reporting: Dan RosenGuest: Cori Lausen
The United States is one of only two UN Member States that is actually not a party to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Back in the 1990s, the Senate failed to ratify the treaty. But, when the parties meet in Colombia next week at COP16, the U.S. is expected to have a significant presence. Over the years, the U.S. government has been successful at driving ambition in policy, action, and nature finance pledges. In our 3rd episode exploring the themes of the coming CBD COP, Wild Audio checked in with WCS Executive Director of Federal Affairs & Policy Kelly Keenan Aylward to learn more.Reporting: Dan RosenGuest: Kelly Keenan Aylwarde6chs5rn
Cali, Colombia will soon play host to the biennial gathering of parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The theme of this important international meeting will be “Peace with Nature.” WCS will have a significant delegation on the ground.For our 2nd episode highlighting the CBD’s 16th Conference of the Parties, or COP, WCS Wild Audio caught up with a few critical members of that delegation to hear their thoughts on the coming meeting and what WCS’s priorities will be. Reporting: Nat MossGuests: Susan Lieberman, Catalina Gutiérrez, Jose Luis Gomez
The 16th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity—or CBD COP16—convenes in Cali, Colombia beginning on October 21. More than 14,000 participants are expected to attend, representing national governments, NGOs, Indigenous groups, the private sector, and others.In the first of a three-part series on the coming COP, WCS Wild Audio spoke with CBD Deputy Executive Secretary David Cooper to learn more about what brings the conservation community to Latin America and what they hope to achieve there. Reporting: Nat MossGuest: David Cooper
Season 5 of the WCS Wild Audio podcast begins with a two-part series looking to NY Climate Week, which runs during the US General Assembly this month. For Part 1, we explore how WCS is focusing on ecological restoration, transforming degraded lands into thriving habitats with the collaboration of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and innovative tools enabling real-time tracking of conservation progress. Hannah Kaplan explores how restoration, technology, and community partnerships are shaping a sustainable future. Reporting: Hannah Kaplan Guests: Tim Rayden, Diane Detoeuf, Itma Selene Torres Rodríguez
Turtles and tortoises are facing extinction like few other species groups. Nearly half of the 300+ species are at risk. The international pet trade is a major reason why. WCS’s Bronx Zoo, as a member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, is working to tackle the problem and the case of the radiated tortoise is a good example. Reporting: Dan RosenGuests: Kevin Torregrosa, Dr. Susie Bartlett
For millennia, tens of millions of bison roamed the plains of North America. By the end of the 19th century, westward expansion and overhunting at the hands of settlers had devastated these populations. The fate of one of the America’s most iconic animals teetered on the edge of extinction. Hannah Kaplan looks at how collaboration between the Bronx Zoo, many other organizations, and Indigenous Peoples helped pull one of North America’s most endangered species back from the brink. Reporting: Hannah KaplanGuests: Pat Thomas, Jason George, Madeleine Thompson
One of WCS’s priorities is protecting an underwater marvel off the coast of New York and New Jersey. Along the way, the goal is to deepen the connection of the more than 28 million local residents to our treasured ocean resources. There are a number of voices contributing to the effort, including young people. Reporting: Dan RosenGuests: Leslieann Peers-Roman, Brynn HellerToday's World Oceans Day episode of WCS Wild Audio is brought to you by our partners at Armitron. Armitron aims to bring awareness and inspire action to help protect marine ecosystems around the world, particularly as it pertains to single-use plastics. Armitron's ocean plastic watches, the Wave and Reef Collections, are crafted from recycled ocean-bound plastic, blending eco-consciousness with impeccable design.
WCS supports the government of Belize in the management of two marine reserves in Belize, protected by a dedicated team of local rangers and monitored by experienced local and international scientists. Beyond preserving marine ecosystems, their focus extends to supporting the livelihoods of fishing communities there. Ralna Kay Lamb Lewis, WCS Belize's Assistant Director, says it's about ensuring that communities—especially women who have often been underrepresented—have the tools to manage resources, ensuring their own incomes and quality of life. Reporting: Hannah KaplanGuest: Ralna Kay Lamb Lewis
It’s been over 50 years since the first Earth Day in 1970. As we commemorate this year’s edition, says WCS’s John Calvelli, there is a great deal of concern about our future. But there is also reason for optimism. One example comes from the Miombo Woodlands in Southern Africa. Reporting: Dan RosenGuest: John Calvelli
April 22 is Earth Day, which could not be a more fitting occasion for conservationists, ministers, and development experts to gather in Bhutan hosted by the Royal Govt of Bhutan, under the Patronage of Her Majesty The Queen, Jetsun Pema Wangchuck. The goal: to develop a long-term plan for sustainable funding to protect tigers across their range. To understand the stakes and the opportunity, we turned to several representatives of the global Tiger Conservation Coalition, which includes: the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), Fauna & Flora, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Natural State, Panthera, TRAFFIC, the United Nations Development Programme (UNPD), the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF), and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). Reporting: Nat Moss Guests: Stuart Chapman (WWF), John Goodrich (Panthera), Joob Jornburom (WCS), Phurba Lhendup (IUCN), Maxim Vergeichik (UNDP) You can follow all the action in Bhutan on Monday, April 22 and Tuesday, April 23 at these streaming links (Bhutan time is GMT +6): YouTubeDay 1 (April 22): https://youtube.com/live/UWHhgF0JttADay 2 (April 23): https://youtube.com/live/_3dQIcaW6DU Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1069989520755200/
The waters off New York City are some of the busiest in the world with both ships and marine life. In fact, new research co-authored by WCS shows that fin whales can be found in these waters all 12 months. And that has important conservation implications.Reporting: Dan RosenGuests: Carissa King-Nolan, Dr. Melinda Rekdahl
Winner of the Conservation Prize at this year’s New York Wild Film Festival, Hamid Sardar’s documentary film Mongolia: Valley of the Bears highlights a clash between the traditions of a nomadic community in northern Mongolia and one dedicated ranger’s mission to conserve wildlife in the boreal “taiga.”Reporting: Nat MossGuest: Hamid Sardar
In the second episode of our two-part series on the current avian influenza crisis, WCS Wild Audio’s Hannah Kaplan looks at the rise of this new, more deadly strain in domestic poultry farming. In places like Cambodia, such farms have become a breeding ground for the virus, and the last five years have seen a dramatic increase in rates of infection of wild birds that share the same habitats. Meanwhile, scientists continue to track the growing threat to mammals, with the recent transmission to dairy cows in the US causing new concerns of potential new spillover to wildlife and people.Reporting: Hannah KaplanGuests: Dr Emily Denstedt and Robert Tizard
WCS’s Global Health team has been closely watching the spread of avian influenza—first as it decimated populations of bird species around the world, and more recently when it jumped to mammals. In this two-part series, we look at the potentially devastating impacts of this growing wildlife pandemic and what is being done to slow its spread.Reporter: Hannah KaplanGuests: Dr Christian Walzer, Dr Paulo Colchao
Film Archivist Leopold Krist has been steeped in a century’s worth of WCS history as he catalogues and digitizies historic archive films documenting conservation work globally, and across New York’s zoos and aquariums. Thanks to funding from the Leon Levy Foundation, which allowed WCS to create the Shelby White and Leon Levy WCS Archives Film Initiative, he is preserving footage of everything from studies of biomechanics of crabs, to the growth of the Bronx Zoo, to polar research expeditions. To see the full catalogue of films, launching in Spring 2024, visit https://library.wcs.org/ Reporting: Hannah KaplanGuest: Leopold Krist
The United Nations Development Programme, or UNDP, works in 170 countries and territories around the world to eradicate poverty and reduce inequality. Not surprisingly, that work aligns in a variety of ways with nature conservation. Leading the UNDP’s Nature Hub is Midori Paxton. WCS Wild Audio checked in with her to discuss the work of the hub and the implementation of its Nature Pledge. Reporting: Nat MossGuest: Midori Paxton
For too many species, the rise of social media has created a growing market for the illegal smuggling and possession of wildlife. In the case of the Mexican spider monkey, whose status is Endangered on the Red List of threatened species maintained by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the growth of the illegal pet trade into the United States has reached a crisis point. In the conclusion to our third season, WCS Wild Audio wanted to find out what’s driving this trade and how conservationists are responding.Reporting: Nat MossGuest: Keith Lovett
Protected and conserved areas across the globe safeguard critical biodiversity, contribute to local economies, and support U.S. development and foreign policy objectives. But too often they are underfunded. Making its way through the congress now is a bill that would leverage U.S. funding with philanthropic contributions to provide sustainable financing for protected areas. In this episode we hear from WCS’s John Calvelli and two Senate allies to learn more. Reporting: Nat MossGuests: John Calvelli, U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham