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THE PRESIDENT’S COLUMN

Conservation biology’s birth and development has been a response by the global scientific community to rapid losses of biodiversity caused by human actions. Through overexploitation, habitat destruction, and introduction of exotic species, humans are changing the abundance and distribution of the world’s species. The recognition that increasing human numbers and our growing resource consumption are the driving forces causing global impoverishment of biological resources has resulted in concern about how natural resources are used. While our members recognize these problems, relatively few of us actually live in the places where the extinction crisis is most immediate. On islands and in the tropics, species loss, like human population growth, ticks relentlessly forward like a second hand on a watch.

Developed countries, where most conservation biologists live, have already lost significant numbers of species and native habitat to human development. The SCB, largely North American in its membership and scientific in its orientation, has not stemmed the tide of declining biodiversity even within North America. What could we do as a society to better achieve our goals?

I suggest three ways that SCB can become more effective: (1) broaden our membership base, (2) become more global in focus, and (3) become more actively engaged in problem solving at local, regional, and national scales. Although these are not easy tasks, we already have the organizational structure in place to move forward with these objectives.

Broadening the membership base through expanded international activities. The SCB membership must grow internationally. In 1997, SCB had more than 5200 members. Of those, 82% live in the United States. Only 17% of our members live outside the United States; of these, only 11% live outside of Mexico and Canada. We must make a greater effort to become more global in our membership, particularly in less-developed countries. In these countries, decisions in the next few years may determine not only the fate of the world’s biodiversity, but also the legacy of spectacular natural phenomena, "wild" places, and rates of habitat loss.

Can we do it? We have youth and vigor on our side: 17% of our members are students and 14% of the non-U.S. members are students. Students not only are the future of SCB, but also they are likely to be pivotal in conservation efforts in developing countries where many of them are doing research. Activities that support student commitment to SCB will bolster our international membership and help expand our focus. We need funds to help defray the costs of meeting attendance for non-U.S. students. This year we have a U.S. National Science Foundation grant to help fund U.S. student attendance at our annual meeting in Australia, but we need funds to bring students from other countries. We have created a fund to which you can donate.

Expanding the global focus. As part of SCB’s effort to become more global, we are holding the 1998 annual meeting in Australia, where the theme will be "conserving global biodiversity." In January 1999, SCB will sponsor a regional meeting with the Society of Ecological Economics in Chile. Both of these meetings should help broaden our membership and provide SCB with a more global outlook.

In addition to its international meeting outreach, SCB needs to change from within. The SCB’s Board of Governors represent a broad variety of areas and approaches, from academics to zoological parks. This diversity helps us address the array of issues ascribed to conservation biology; however, Board membership is highly biased toward the United States. To help correct this imbalance, I will appoint several standing committees to identify regional (e.g., African, Australian, European, Indian, Indo-west Pacific, and Latin American) conservation issues where SCB might be useful. These committees will coordinate chapter development in their regions. I seek suggestions for committee members and chairs.

Expanding SCB’s ability to problem solve. Although an important component to solving conservation issues is scientific understanding, one of the most pressing needs is influencing the policy process. In many cases there is sufficient science to recommend some courses of action over others—but science alone is not enough. We need chapters and political engagement to help achieve our objective of assuring that good science guides policy. Active chapters are key to training people to increase the use of science in decision-making and in focusing local concern on critical issues concerning biodiversity. During the next year I hope to lay the foundation to build SCB into a more effective force in applying the principles of conservation biology to real-world problems. To be successful we need your participation, not only at our annual meeting, but throughout the year.

To follow the principle of "thinking globally but acting locally," I want to expand the number of chapters of SCB, and pair chapters in developing countries with those in developed countries. We need strong active groups addressing conservation biology problems in all parts of the globe and at all scales from local to global. Chapters can be an effective tool in defining the biological costs of different policy decisions. Chapters are also important in providing science-policy linkage and in training students by providing opportunities to review documents critically and craft informed suggestions on proposed government actions. Moreover, local chapters can help private landowners with conservation/management issues by providing scientific information that might otherwise be lacking.

Chapters are important in local, regional, and national issues. When helping to implement scientific research, recommendations, or management options locally, SCB’s chapters are charged to use sound science as represented by SCB publications and policy recommendations in conserving biodiversity. There is a pressing need for independent critical review of government documents, programs, and policy statements—from HCPs, to forest management plans, to reserve management guidelines. The April issue of Conservation Biology published an SCB-commissioned paper on this topic, offering guidelines for such independent scientific review. We need to take this model and apply it to local issues worldwide.

There is no shortage of needs for your input. Although we have a structure and organization to serve us, we need individual involvement at the chapter as well as at the national level. I hope you will be willing to take on the responsibility of more active participation by joining or starting a chapter, or attending the annual meeting in Australia or the regional meeting in Chile. If you cannot attend, perhaps you will consider donating funds so that students can. If conservation biology is to be successful in protecting biodiversity and ecological services we need to work broadly in all parts of the world, combining information across geographical boundaries as well as taxonomic groups. If we develop along these lines, volunteers will be required to facilitate communication and keep members informed via email, our newsletter, and our web site. We all have individual strengths and talents to offer. Please determine what you can do, contact your local chapter or Board member in your area of interest, and join forces with your fellow conservation biologists in helping to leave the world slightly richer in its biological resources because of your efforts.

P. Dee Boersma

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