Conservation Science

Editor's Note: The Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation helped fund Jennifer O'Leary's early work with the Kenya Wildlife Service through a Leadership Grant. You can read more about this project in our Featured Fellow piece, "Translating Science Into Action: the Mombasa Marine Park, Kenya." From Jennifer:

Editor's Note: The Robert and Patricia Switzer Foundation helped fund Sarah's early work on Conservation Development with the Wildlife Conservation Society through a Leadership Grant.

In June 2013, I had the opportunity to organize a collaborative research project with a number of partner organizations and some scallop fishermen. This project has been some of the most rewarding work I have done to date because it brings a diverse group of people to the table who are all genuinely interested in sustaining the state's scallop resource and would like to better understand how small-scale closed areas might be an effective management tool to help do so.

General Mills has publicly committed to sourcing deforestation-free palm oil. This represents a major turnaround from just a month ago, when the company performed poorly in the Union of Concerned Scientists scorecard of palm oil sourcing commitments by 30 top companies. Sharon Smith, campaign manager with UCS's Tropical Forest & Climate Initiative, said: "Despite failing to make the grade on the scorecard, it seems General Mills is turning a new leaf.

In the Stanford marshmallow experiment, arguably the most famous study ever conducted on the concept of delayed gratification, children were offered a choice between receiving one small treat (like a marshmallow) immediately or receiving two treats later (like, 15 minutes later). In the years since, the ability to choose deferred rewards over smaller immediate rewards has been associated with numerous positives such as enhanced self-esteem, academic excellence, and physical fitness.

Palm oil is used in a huge range of consumer products, from food and fuel to beauty products and cleaning agents, meaning that demand for palm oil has risen fast. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), growing demand is driving increases in deforestation, which accounts for 10 percent of the emissions that cause global warming. Clearing forest for plantations also destroys trees that are home to endangered species and a resource for forest communities, the U.S.-based UCS said.

In October 2013, California's Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 711, making it illegal to use lead ammunition for hunting, a ban that will be phased in from 2015 to 2019. For UC Santa Cruz environmental toxicologists Donald Smith and 1998 Switzer Fellow Myra Finkelstein, the bill represents the translation of years of scientific research into a new policy to protect people and wildlife from lead poisoning.

WWF has been elected to be the next northern country Civil Society Observer (CSO) at the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) and will begin the two year term immediately. The coming years will be a critical time for the FCPF and its efforts to support forest countries to build their capacity to address the drivers of deforestation and degradation, create a portfolio of pilot pay-for-performance conservation programs, and test ways to enhance livelihoods of local communities and conserve biodiversity.

"Conservationists in low-cost countries have to spend more time and effort overcoming bureaucratic hurdles and ensuring their work does not have negative impacts on local people," said lead author Erin McCreless with the University of California Santa Cruz, who notes that a more holistic approach to conservation priorities would be beneficial. Read more Read the PLOS ONE article