Wcs Wild Audio

Season 2

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S2, EPISODE 1: “TOGETHER FOR CONSERVATION” IN THE AMAZON

Our second season launches in conversation with Mariana Varese, the Peru-based director of WCS’s Amazon Landscapes Program. Mariana describes a new initiative, “Together for Conservation,” that seeks to conserve biodiversity while preventing environmental crime in the Amazon. The project brings Indigenous Peoples and local communities together with journalists, private companies, and civil society groups to develop conservation solutions that can be expanded or replicated across the Amazon.

S2, EPISODE 2: THE MEETING IN MONTREAL THAT COULD HELP SAVE THE PLANET

After two years of delay due to the COVID pandemic, the long-awaited 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity is upon us. As we look to the start of the meeting in Montreal, Canada, WCS Wild Audio spoke with Sue Lieberman, Justina Ray, and Alfred DeGemmis to find out what it all means and gain some insights into what to expect.

S2, EPISODE 3: CANADA IS IDENTIFYING KEY BIODIVERSITY AREAS, OR KBAS, CRITICAL TO PROTECTING SPECIES AND THEIR HABITATS

In 2016, thirteen of the world’s leading nature conservation organizations launched an ambitious new Key Biodiversity Areas partnership to identify sites that are important for the persistence of biodiversity. With the 15th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity taking place in Montreal, WCS Wild Audio checked in with Peter Soroye of WCS Canada to learn how the initiative is going in his country.

S2, EPISODE 4: A TENACIOUS PREDATOR FACES AN UNRELENTING OPPONENT—CLIMATE CHANGE

The Arctic is currently warming four times faster than the rest of the planet. Drastic changes are happening. We still don’t know all the different ways this is impacting local wildlife. WCS Wild Audio spoke with Tom Glass of the University of Montana and Martin Robards from WCS about what they’ve learned about one unheralded species in particular: wolverines.

S2, EPISODE 5: PROTECTING MARINE SPECIES IN THE CANADIAN ARCTIC’S INCREASINGLY NOISY WATERS

Across the globe, climate change is reshaping land and seascapes. In the Arctic, melting sea ice is opening up shipping traffic into and out of the region. The increasingly noisy underwater environment created by these commercial vessels now threatens marine mammals that rely on sound for communication, food, and safety. WCS Canada’s Bill Halliday and Steve Insley have been studying this growing problem and spoke to WCS Wild Audio for this report.

S2, EPISODE 6: PROTECTING AFRICA’S RAREST GREAT APE, THE ELUSIVE CROSS RIVER GORILLA

The Critically Endangered Cross River gorilla is the rarest and most elusive of Africa’s four subspecies of gorilla. Found exclusively in the densely forested jungles between Nigeria and Cameroon, it is thought that there are as few as 300 animals left in the wild.

But despite the persistent threats of habitat loss, gene fragmentation, and poaching, there is hope, says WCS Nigeria Director of Cross River Landscapes, Inaoyom Imong. WCS Wild Audio's Hannah Kaplan has this report.

S2, EPISODE 7: DOCUMENTING THE EXTRAORDINARY BIODIVERSITY IN BOLIVIA’S MADIDI NATIONAL PARK

Madidi National Park, in northeastern Bolivia, boasts a jaw-dropping concentration of some of the richest biodiversity on the planet. The vast landscape ranges from the Amazon River basin up nearly 6,000 meters to the peaks of the Andes.

A comprehensive WCS survey has documented thousands of plants and animals, some new to science, that are informing conservation in the region. Wild Audio spoke to WCS Bolivia’s Rob Wallace to learn more.

S2, EPISODE 8: THE EDGE OF KNOWN THINGS—WILL HUDSON CANYON BE NAMED A NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY?

“With all this strangeness, there is also beauty beyond words.” That’s how the famous scientist and explorer William Beebe described an underwater marvel off the coast of New York and New Jersey in the late 1920s . Today, Hudson Canyon has been nominated as a National Marine Sanctuary. But, as WCS Wild Audio learned from Noah Chesnin and Dr. Merry Camhi, there’s still a lot we don’t know about this massive canyon.

S2, EPISODE 9: STEMMING THE TIDE OF THE ILLEGAL JAGUAR TRADE THROUGH COMMUNITY-BASED CONSERVATION

Jaguars are the Americas’ mightiest big cat, with roughly 150,000 of this extraordinary species scattered across its range from southern Arizona to northern Argentina. Today they face a growing threat from the illegal wildlife trade in their teeth, skin, and other parts. Wild Audio recently spoke to Kurt Duchez, the Counter-Wildlife Trafficking Officer for the WCS Mesoamerica region, to learn about the scope of the problem and what can be done to confront it.

S2, EPISODE 10: CLIMATE CHANGE AND WALRUS HABITAT COME TOGETHER IN OSCAR-NOMINATED SHORT DOC “HAULOUT”

This week a 25-minute documentary, “Haulout,” will headline the New York Wild Film Festival as its Best in Festival winner. That prize can be added to prestigious awards for “Haulout” from the International Documentary Association and the American Film Institute on its way to the Academy Awards, where it competes for best documentary short on March 12. WCS Wild Audio spoke to representatives of the film, the festival, and WCS’s scientific programs to learn more. Watch the film at The New Yorker.

[NOTE: This episode contains spoilers]

S2, EPISODE 11: HOW FORESTS CAN HELP US ADDRESS EARTH’S PRESSING CRISES

We need to act fast to address the three interrelated crises facing our planet—climate change, biodiversity loss, and the threat of zoonotic pandemics. We must not only protect the last of the wild, but also actively restore wildlife and wild places. WCS Wild Audio recently spoke with John Lotspeich, Executive Director of Trillion Trees—a conservation partnership attempting to meet the scale needed at this critical time. You can also read their new 2022 Impact Report for more.

S2, EPISODE 12: INSIDE THE LARGEST GLOBAL CONSERVATION HUB IN THE WORLD, THE CAMBRIDGE CONSERVATION INITIATIVE

At the heart of the University of Cambridge sits a collaborative center that's changing the way that organizations and academic institutions work together to address immediate environmental challenges. The Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) takes an innovative approach, bringing together world-class researchers and 11 leading NGOs in one creative hub. It’s mission is to change how we approach science-based conservation models. Hannah Kaplan spoke to Executive Director of CCI, Dr. Mike Maunder, to learn more.

S2, EPISODE 13: WHEN PANDAS SKIRTED THE PEARL HARBOR ATTACK AND OTHER STORIES FROM THE WCS LIBRARY & ARCHIVES

For over 125 years, the Wildlife Conservation Society has been protecting species and their habitats across the globe—all the while inspiring visitors to care about conservation at the Bronx Zoo and WCS’s other wildlife parks in New York City. Recording those efforts is the focus of the WCS Library and Archives. WCS Wild Audio’s Nat Moss recently spoke to archive director Madeleine Thompson to learn how she and her team are working to preserve a rich and dynamic history.

You can purchase mugs, t-shirts, hats, pillows, shower curtains and other items with illustrations WCS Department of Tropical Research at the WCS Archive Red Bubble online shop.

S2, EPISODE 14: OUR OCEANS ARE OUR NATURAL CAPITAL—CONSERVING MADAGASCAR'S MARINE BIODIVERSITY

Subsistence fishing has long been a staple of Malagasy culture. The rich biodiversity that makes Madagascar so famous also underpins local economies, providing not only food, but income through for-profit fishing and tourism.

However, a host of threats are not only putting pressure on ecosystems, but the very communities who are so intrinsically tied to them. Ravaka Ranaivoson, Marine Conservation Director for WCS Madagascar, believes that the solution lies in supporting “natural capital” – training communities to identify and manage natural resources for healthy, sustainable economies.

Wild Audio’s Hannah Kaplan spoke with Ravaka about the challenges, and opportunities, in working to protect the country’s rich ecosystems.

Read the transcript of this epsiode here.

S2, EPISODE 15: EARTH DAY INSPIRATION FROM POPE FRANCIS ON HOW TO FRAME OUR FUTURE

In November 2021, the Wildlife Conservation Society launched a new campaign to address the crisis of climate change called Framing Our Future. The effort was premised on partnerships with a wide range of civic, cultural, and academic institutions across the United States. One of those partners, the Bronx’s Fordham University, has embraced the campaign as part of its own Green Plan to live out the inspirational call to protect nature found in Pope Francis’s 2015 Laudato si encyclical.

SPECIAL CITES EPISODE 1: IN PANAMA, ATTENTION TURNS TO THE INTERNATIONAL WILDLIFE TRADE

This month representatives from across the globe will gather in Panama City, Panama. It’s the 19th convening of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora—or CITES. WCS’s Sue Lieberman leads WCS’s delegation to the meeting. She recently spoke to Wild Audio’s Nat Moss to share her thoughts on what’s to come.

SPECIAL CITES EPISODE 2: A PUSH TO EXPAND GLOBAL PROTECTIONS FOR SHARKS AND RAYS

On November 14, conservationists from across the globe will come together in Panama City, Panama for the triennial meeting of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species—or CITES. In this special Wild Audio rebroadcast, WCS Executive Director for Shark and Ray Conservation Luke Warwick discusses anticipated action for sharks and rays at CITES, including a proposal to list the entire family of Requiem Sharks for protection. Nat Moss reports.