Wilder in the News

EurkaAlert!: A new study, published in Conservation Letters, assessed the conservation ROI of field stations and explored the impact of COVID-19. The findings revealed that dwindling funding threatens the ability of field research stations to continue to carry out vital conservation efforts. “Conservation funding is limited, but solutions are within reach!”, said Dr. Gráinne McCabe, our Chief Conservation Officer, who is among the 170+ authors contributing to this study.

The annual Biodiversity Conservation Horizon Scan is a forward-looking initiative which regularly identifies the most critical conservation issues to watch out for on the future of our planet. Published this past December in Trends in Ecology & Evolution, the 2024 scan, led by Professor Bill Sutherland at Cambridge University, highlights 15 pressing emerging issues resulting from intertwined climate and biodiversity impacts and advancing technologies with incredible potential for conservation. One of our very own, Nafeesa Esmail, Conservation Research and Strategy Advisor, played a pivotal role as a co-author in this proactive research. Her insights shed light on forward-looking conservation strategies for a brighter future.

The Guardian: The half-moon hairstreak butterfly is among the endangered species fighting the heat and smoke of a record wildfire season. In late August 2017, a bolt of lightning struck Kenow Mountain in eastern British Columbia. In less than two weeks, the smouldering that ensued had transformed into a large forest fire, tearing through the rugged landscape and quickly spreading into Waterton Lakes National Park.

Mongabay News: A recently published horizon scan on community-based conservation identified 15 topics that offer opportunities to yield positive change for people and the planet, as well as provide insights on avoiding pitfalls in achieving 2030 global policy targets. Community-based conservation has for decades tried to tackle these interrelated challenges with mixed success and, at times, counter-productive results, but has arisen as a promising and popular approach on global agendas.

CTV News: An Alberta species-at-risk is being given a helping hand from a Calgary energy company. Tamarack Valley Energy has announced a partnership with the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo to help conserve the habitats of burrowing owls, which overlap in many areas where the company works in the province. The agreement will include a $150,000 investment to the Wilder Institute's programs devoted to conserving populations of the subterranean bird.

CTV News: The Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo is teaming up with a pair of West African conservation organizations to help advance conservation of the Cross River gorilla. The institute announced on social media Wednesday that it's joining forces with the Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) and Centre for Biodiversity Conservation Research (CBCR) to help build up the Cross River gorilla population, which is currently estimated to be around 300 remaining in the wild.