WCS Wild Audio

The 5 Great Forests from Mexico to Colombia contain 7.5 percent of the world’s biodiversity and support five million people. One of the iconic species there is the scarlet macaw. In Guatemala, protecting these bright red birds from habitat destruction and poaching for the pet trade is a major challenge. As Wild Audio's Dan Rosen discovered in this episode from our 3rd season, the WCS Guatemala team has taken an interesting approach.

Reporting: Dan Rosen
Guests: Rony Garcia, Gabriela Ponce Santizo, Jeremy Radachowsky

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 Moss
Guest: Keith Lovett

At the heart of the University of Cambridge sits a collaborative center which is changing the way that organizations and academic institutions work together to address immediate environmental challenges. The Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) is an innovative approach, bringing together 11 leading NGOs and world-class researchers in one creative hub. It’s mission? To change how we approach science-based conservation models.

Hannah Kaplan spoke to Executive Director of CCI, Dr Mike Maunder, to learn more.

To learn more about CCI, visit www.cambridgeconservation.org

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 Moss
Guests: John Calvelli, U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham

WCS researchers are embarking on a two-year study of Covid transmission in Alaskan wildlife. Working closely with Indigenous Communities, the team is on a mission to better understand the overlap between human, environmental, and animal health. In doing so, they can get a better sense of the “big picture” of how pathogens develop, jump between species and ultimately, how we can avoid the next global pandemic.

Reporting: Hannah Kaplan
Guest: Sarah Olson

Small Scale fisheries are the cornerstone of livelihoods and economies across the world, providing essential micronutrients to more than 4 billion people. What's more, they also employ over 150 million people in the industry, the majority of whom live in the Global South, and are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.

Wild Audio's Hannah Kaplan sat down with WCS's Hoyt Peckham, Director of Community fisheries, who manages a team supporting 30 Country programs as they work to achieve a more sustainable and equitable approach to managing our marine resources.

Keep an eye out for additional WCS Wild Audio stories about sustainable fisheries, with insights and solutions from the communities who manage them, in Season 4.

Reporting: Hannah Kaplan
Guest: Hoyt Peckham

During New York's Climate Week, WCS is exploring bold approaches to the growing climate crisis in a three-part series. In our final episode, we look at REDD+ and market-driven approaches to forest conservation.

WCS Executive Director of Markets, Todd Stevens, wants to find sustainable, financially viable incentives for protecting nature. Linking field-based conservation to private sector funding under the REDD+ framework, his goal is to use capital to ensure positive, environmentally friendly economic development in and around conservation sites.

This model rewards restoration and protection of the environment, ultimately linking healthy ecosystems to healthy economies. At the heart of this markets-based approach, says Todd, lie at-risk forests, which absorb harmful Co2 emissions. Hannah Kaplan has the story.

Reporting: Hannah Kaplan
Guest: Todd Stevens

During New York's Climate Week, WCS is exploring bold approaches to the growing climate crisis in a three-part series. In Part 2, we look at the need for anticipating, and adapting to, a changing climate.

The most important thing we can do to address climate change is reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. Protecting intact nature can also be a big part of the solution. But let’s say we do those things and we manage to constrain climate change. What type of world will be left for us to live in, if we don't intentionally change our conservation strategies now? That’s where climate adaptation has a part to play.

Reporting: Dan Rosen
Guests: Liz Tully, Paul Elsen

In anticipation of New York Climate Week taking place later this month during the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly, WCS Wild Audio presents the first in a 3-part series exploring forward-thinking approaches to the growing climate crisis. For Part 1, we look at why maintaining the ecological integrity of forests is so important and what can be done both to avoid further degradation and restore what’s been lost.

Reporting: Nat Moss
Guests: Tom Evans, Kemen Austin

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 Kaplan
Guest: Nicholas Spencer and Keo Socheat