NEW YORK, NY, August 10, 2007 -- In an article appearing today in Science magazine, scientists of the Wildlife Trust Alliance critique the top-down, corporate model of conservation as practiced by large, international non-governmental organizations (INGOs). The Wildlife Trust Alliance is a growing international network of local, science-based conservation organizations committed to researching and mitigating the consequences of human-induced change on biodiversity, ecosystem function and health.

The article notes that large-scale conservation practice employs a top-down methodology to develop solutions at the local level. "Large INGOs are missing the mark when it comes to successful local conservation," said co-author Mary Pearl, President of Wildlife Trust and one of the founders of the Wildlife Trust Alliance. "Wildlife Trust Alliance members share the perspective that lasting conservation is best achieved through applied science and community-based activities designed and led by local professionals." Lead author of the article, Jon Paul Rodriguez, Investigator at the Center for Ecology of the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Investigations (Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas - IVIC) and President of Provita, a Venezuelan conservation group, asserted "Our success shows that the most effective conservation solutions are those that are locally relevant and grow from long-term commitment and involvement. That is why our Science article places a priority on training and equipping local conservationists."

The article also argues that because large INGOs in developed countries typically create branded conservation programs to promote fundraising efforts at home, these programs are not designed to keep up with rapid changes and threats occurring on the ground in other countries, such as new emergence and movements of pathogens, the influx of invasive species and the compound effects of climate change on wildlife behavior. In addition, many conservation initiatives designed in the industrialized world fail to address adequately the cultural, economic and political climate of local communities in developing or economically challenged countries in South America, Asia and Africa. "Without local leadership, projects are failing because the support to maintain sustainability hasn't been addressed or doesn't exist," said Rodrigo Medellín, head of the Program for the Conservation of Migratory Bats, a partnership led by the Mexican NGO BIOCONCIENCIA together with the Institute of Ecology of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico and Wildlife Trust. Furthermore, programs led from outside deprive local conservation leaders the experience they need to grow as professionals. "Local capacity building is the key to success and investing in education and community buy-in is paramount," Medellín concludes.

Therefore, the authors identify another critical area requiring investment: assistance to local academic institutions in developing countries to train new conservation scientists. In fact, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) actually cut back on university scholarships for students in developing nations to 900 per year from a previous 20,000. "Education is critical, yet the countries richest in biodiversity do not have enough capacity to train and school their most promising conservationists," remarked co-author Andrew Taber, Executive Vice President of Wildlife Trust and a Wildlife Trust Alliance Co-coordinator.

Suzana Padua, another co-author and the President of IPE, a Brazilian conservation research group, observed "Our experience shows that the top-down approach to major conservation issues is ineffective at the local level. The experience we share in the Wildlife Trust Alliance is that biodiversity is best conserved by involving local stakeholders and creating stronger local grassroots conservation organizations." Notes author Raman Sukumar, Cosmos Prize winner and founder of India's Asian Nature Conservation Foundation, the key to conservation success is linking local experts in an egalitarian network of mutual consultation and support. "The Wildlife Trust Alliance is a think-tank of innovative, local leaders that is emerging as a global voice for local conservation scientists," he concluded.

Download the Science article here

About Wildlife Trust Alliance

Founded in 2004,The Wildlife Trust Alliance is a growing international network of science-based conservation organizations and individual members that share a common focus of understanding the consequences of human activities on biodiversity, ecosystem function and health. The Wildlife Trust Alliance members forge innovative, culturally appropriate and cost effective solutions to meeting the challenges of protecting ecosystem health in human-dominated landscapes. Collectively, the Alliance offers its expertise to practitioners, policy makers, educators and the media about links between biodiversity loss, wildlife trade, climate change and emerging diseases. To learn more please go to http://www.wildlifetrust.org/wtalliance/.

About Wildlife Trust

Wildlife Trust empowers local conservation scientists worldwide to protect nature and safeguard ecosystem and human health. Wildlife Trust is a conservation science innovator and leverages research expertise through strategic global alliances. Wildlife Trust pioneered the field of Conservation Medicine, a new discipline that addresses the link between ecological disruption of habitats and the effects on wildlife, livestock and human health.

Founded in 1971 by British naturalist and author Gerald Durrell, Wildlife Trust has built its reputation on 35 years of global research, education, training and experience. Research and conservation work in the United States include programs in the metropolitan New York area, Florida and along the coast of the Southeastern U.S.

Internationally, Wildlife Trust trains and supports a network of scientists around the world to save endangered species and their habitats and to protect the health of vital ecosystems. Wildlife Trust created the first egalitarian international network of science-based conservation organizations called the Wildlife Trust Alliance and is a founding partner organization of the Consortium for Conservation Medicine, a unique think-tank of prestigious academic institutions.

Visit www.wildlifetrust.org to read more.

Media Contact:
Anthony Ramos, Wildlife Trust
Director for Marketing & Communications
ramos@wildlifetrust.org
212/380-4469

# # #