First-ever Nature Needs Half Network reception engages conservation leaders with a new scientific framework and roadmap for the protection of 50% of Earth’s wild lands.
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 5th, 2017 – Dozens of conservation leaders gathered on Wednesday of last week at a reception hosted by the Nature Needs Half Network to provide feedback on an audacious plan to protect half the planet’s wilderness by 2050.
Representatives from the scientific, indigenous, arts/media, public, and private spheres invited to attend heard new evidence for the conclusion that protecting half the planet for the benefit of all life on Earth is as feasible as it is necessary.
The highlight of the evening’s program was a presentation by Eric Dinerstein and Carly Vynne-Baker on a new scientific framework that will help decision-makers accurately and efficiently identify critical areas for protection.
The Nature Needs Half Network (NNHN) was launched in 2009 at the 9th World Wilderness Congress (WILD9) in Mérida, Mexico. Its introduction as an actionable science-based plan grounded in an ethic of care for nature at the scale it needs to continue to produce the things people need most was initially viewed with skepticism. Privately, most conservation leaders recognized the vital necessity of protecting half the planet’s wild areas, while maintaining a public position that this goal was too ambitious.
Opinions have since changed with a growing recognition about the severe threats jeopardizing essential natural processes and human well-being. Conservation groups are rapidly adopting the Nature Needs Half vision as the standard by which their work must be measured.
“This gathering of senior leaders is an endorsement of the value and need for Nature Needs Half,” says Vance G. Martin, President of the WILD Foundation and a founding member of Nature Needs Half. “It also underscores the fact that NNH is a non-proprietary, open-architecture movement with partners and collaborators working together in conservation, business, government, entertainment, education, and the arts.”
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