A new study published online today, April 25, in the scientific journal Science provides the strongest evidence to date that not only is nat
From the article:
âIf you look only at the trend of species declines, it would be easy to think that weâre failing to protect biodiversity, but you would not be looking at the full picture,â said Penny Langhammer, lead author of the study and Executive Vice President of Re:wild. âWhat we show with this paper is that conservation is, in fact, working to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. It is clear that conservation must be prioritized and receive significant additional resources and political support globally, while we simultaneously address the systemic drivers of biodiversity loss, such as unsustainable consumption and production.â
This massive meta analysis (for those not familiar, a study analyzing the results of many studies on similar topics) found that the vast majority of conservation efforts show much much better results than doing nothing. In many cases, biodiversity loss was not only stopped but reversed.
This shows that conservation efforts really work and money invested is put to very good use. Legally protecting endangered species really works, restoring habitat really works, removing invasive species really works, returning land to Indigenous communities works. All of the blood, sweat, and tears being poured into protecting the natural world has been making a real, big, tangible, difference on a global scale.
Look--the things we're doing are HELPING! Is it perfect yet? No! But is it worth it? YES!
I am bookmarking this for those days when I start to feel despair creeping in. This won't make the headlines the way that bad news often does, but it is even more important, I think.
