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THE HALF-EARTH PROJECT®
“Unless we move quickly to protect global biodiversity, we will soon lose most of the species composing life on Earth.” —E.O. Wilson.
Threats to the natural world are multiplying.
Species are going extinct at an alarming rate.
There’s a solution. It’s called the Half-Earth Project®, the signature program of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation. If we conserve half the land and sea, we can still safeguard the bulk of our planet’s biodiversity.
But what would Half-Earth look like? How would we get there?
EXPLORE THE HALF-EARTH PROJECTSpecies are going extinct at an alarming rate.
There’s a solution. It’s called the Half-Earth Project®, the signature program of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation. If we conserve half the land and sea, we can still safeguard the bulk of our planet’s biodiversity.
But what would Half-Earth look like? How would we get there?
THE HALF-EARTH PROJECT:
DIGGING IN THE DIRT PODCAST APPEARANCE
Listen to Dr. Paula Ehrlich's appearance on the Digging In the Dirt Podcast on WPKN.
“As extinction spreads, some of the species that we lose may prove to be keystone species whose disappearance will bring down other species.” - Dr. Paula Ehrlich
Listen to Dr. Paula Ehrlich on Digging in the Dirt on WKPN.
Dr. Ehrlich speaks about striking a balance between all the stewards of nature, including indigenous peoples and local communities, to address the extinction crisis. She shares the moonshot goal of Half-Earth in conversation with Kevin Gallagher about the importance of identifying species, discovered and undiscovered, and a do no harm ethic while we map life on Earth to protect it. By sharing the example of avoiding trophic cascades like those that devastated the sea otters, and how the tools of the Half-Earth Project, like the Species Protection Index help countries prioritize land for conservation, Dr. Ehrlich argues we’re experiencing a shift in our consciousness alongside “courageous research” that will lead to safeguarding life on Earth.
THE HALF-EARTH PROJECT:
2021 GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY FESTIVAL
Watch Dr. Paula Ehrlich's presentation on International Biodiversity Day, "The Importance of Protecting Biodiversity".
The E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation and the Half-Earth Project recently participated in the 2021 Global Biodiversity Festival, a 72-hour live online festival featuring over 150 speakers.
E.O. Wilson welcomed attendees to the Global Biodiversity Festival with a pre-recorded message and Dr. Paula Ehrlich presented “The Importance of Protecting Biodiversity.”
Hear from other speakers at this year's festival at the Global Biodiversity Festival.
E.O. Wilson welcomed attendees to the Global Biodiversity Festival with a pre-recorded message and Dr. Paula Ehrlich presented “The Importance of Protecting Biodiversity.”
Hear from other speakers at this year's festival at the Global Biodiversity Festival.
THE HALF-EARTH PROJECT:
IN ALABAMA
Watch The Half-Earth Project® in Alabama At the Crossroads: Biodiversity, Civil Rights, and Science Education
from the Black Belt to Paint Rock.
from the Black Belt to Paint Rock.
Alabama’s striking intersection of biological and human history, cultural heritage, and diversity make it an important Place for a Half-Earth Future.
The E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation and its Half-Earth Project traveled to Dr. Wilson’s home state for a live online conversation. We heard about a new generation being trained in ground-breaking forest research methodology. We also learned how--in an area the size of New Jersey--conservation is being promoted at a large scale and in novel ways while celebrating and supporting people and their needs.
E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation Chief Marketing Officer Joel R. Johnson moderated a panel conversation with President & CEO Paula Ehrlich and Principal Conservation Science Advisor Bill Finch, along with special guest partners: Patience Knight of the Paint Rock Forest Research Center and Phillip Howard of the Alabama River Diversity Network, with video by filmmaker and writer Ben Raines.
The E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation and its Half-Earth Project traveled to Dr. Wilson’s home state for a live online conversation. We heard about a new generation being trained in ground-breaking forest research methodology. We also learned how--in an area the size of New Jersey--conservation is being promoted at a large scale and in novel ways while celebrating and supporting people and their needs.
E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation Chief Marketing Officer Joel R. Johnson moderated a panel conversation with President & CEO Paula Ehrlich and Principal Conservation Science Advisor Bill Finch, along with special guest partners: Patience Knight of the Paint Rock Forest Research Center and Phillip Howard of the Alabama River Diversity Network, with video by filmmaker and writer Ben Raines.
THE HALF-EARTH PROJECT:
EARTH DAY TRIBUTE TO E.O. WILSON
Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Edward O. Wilson has transformed our sense of the natural world and humanity’s place in it. In a time of climate crisis and shrinking biodiversity, his lyrical, thought-provoking, and increasingly prophetic work inspires wonder and reverence for our fragile natural world.
Watch E.O. Wilson’s documentarians including renowned nature and science writer David Quammen, editor of the new Library of America collection Edward O. Wilson: Biophilia, The Diversity of Life, Naturalist, award-winning environmental journalist Bill Finch, Paula Ehrlich, CEO & President, E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, and Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and Wilson biographer Richard Rhodes for an Earth Day exploration of Wilson’s legacy as naturalist, writer, and thinker.
The event features a clip from Of Ants and Men, produced by Graham Townsley and directed by Shelley Shultz. The event was moderated by Max Rudin, President, and Publisher of Library of America, and recorded on Earth Day, April 22, 2021.
The event features a clip from Of Ants and Men, produced by Graham Townsley and directed by Shelley Shultz. The event was moderated by Max Rudin, President, and Publisher of Library of America, and recorded on Earth Day, April 22, 2021.
WHO IS E.O. WILSON?
Edward O. Wilson is one of the leading scientists and among the foremost naturalists in the world.
Dr. Wilson is recognized in both science and literature, as a synthesizer in works stretching from pure biology across to the social sciences and humanities. Wilson is acknowledged as the creator of two scientific disciplines (island biogeography and sociobiology), three unifying concepts for science and the humanities jointly (biophilia, biodiversity studies, and consilience), and two major advances in global biodiversity conservation (the Encyclopedia of Life and Half-Earth.
He has received the U.S. National Medal of Science, the Crafoord Prize (equivalent of the Nobel, for ecology) of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and the International Prize of Biology of Japan; and in letters, two Pulitzer Prizes in non-fiction, the Nonino and Serono Prizes of Italy and COSMOS Prize of Japan. For his work in conservation, he has received the Gold Medal of the Worldwide Fund for Nature and the Audubon Medal of the Audubon Society.
LEARN MOREHe has received the U.S. National Medal of Science, the Crafoord Prize (equivalent of the Nobel, for ecology) of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and the International Prize of Biology of Japan; and in letters, two Pulitzer Prizes in non-fiction, the Nonino and Serono Prizes of Italy and COSMOS Prize of Japan. For his work in conservation, he has received the Gold Medal of the Worldwide Fund for Nature and the Audubon Medal of the Audubon Society.
IN BIODIVERSITY NEWS
FROM THE BLOG
FROM TWITTER
- RT @highcountrynews: California is budgetting $61.5 million to construct wildlife crossings over busy highways and it could save the state’…2days ago
- The Long Run, a global network of lodges targeting eco-tourists, is a Community for a Half-Earth Future. Long Run l… https://t.co/SDwTuvSWYD6days ago
- By featuring #biodiversity on their menus, chefs can send a message that eating a diverse diet is good for people a… https://t.co/MvE3a3r4ve9days ago
- "Not every great biologist begins as a kid with a butterfly net and a desire to turn over rocks in clear-running br… https://t.co/S8VIaXQAye10days ago
- Jump for joy! You can help E.O. Wilson and the Half-Earth Project save biodiversity right now. Give us your opinion… https://t.co/sJGgtQbngG12days ago
- Use #ArcGIS for conservation? It's not too late to register for the ESRI User Conference! E.O. Wilson Biodiversity… https://t.co/AORyyLY8hF12days ago
MEET CHAMPIONS OF BIODIVERSITY
Amanda Briody
Amanda Briody is the Master Ambassador of the Half-Earth Project Educator Ambassador Program. She loves to share her work by designing and facilitating professional learning courses and workshops for Baltimore City Public Schools Science Teachers.
Ricardo Guta
Ricardo Guta is the inaugural Half-Earth scholar and currently working in the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Laboratory at Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique as a Research Technician focused on the biodiversity of insects. His role is to assist in scientific research and monitoring, with particular emphasis on sampling species, assembly of biological samples using appropriate methods, entering scientific data in the database and providing assistance to visiting researchers and staff of the Park.
Amy Tidovsky
Amy Tidovsky leads fundraising in support of the foundation’s mission, strategies and projects as Vice President of Development. She has deep experience in major and principal gifts fundraising, capital campaigns, board development, philanthropy training and consultation and non-profit leadership and management.
HONORING INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES
Our Indigenous Land Acknowledgement
“The E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation and it's program, The Half-Earth Project, honors the wisdom of the traditional owners of the lands and waters we aim to protect and their ancient ways of seeing and experiencing nature. In the spirit of the oral tradition of the Blackfoot, we aim to honor ‘the flash of the firefly in the night, the breath of the buffalo in the wintertime, and the little shadow that runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.’ We aim to restore and protect life. We thank our Indigenous communities for their historic stewardship of life, their critical role in reaffirming and repairing our relationship with it and their present and future partnership.”
– Paula Ehrlich, President & CEO of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation and Lead of the Half-Earth Project
DISCOVER INDIGENOUS HISTORY WHERE YOU LIVE– Paula Ehrlich, President & CEO of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation and Lead of the Half-Earth Project
JUSTICE, EQUALITY, DIVERSITY, AND INCLUSION
The Half-Earth Project is calling on people everywhere to participate in a “moonshot” to care for our planet. Such efforts require broad collaboration across sectors and geographies and the contributions of diverse voices, perspectives, expertise and experience.
At the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, we acknowledge that centuries of racism, violence, discrimination and marginalization have obstructed participation of Black, Latinx, Indigenous and Asian people and communities of color in conservation globally. We acknowledge that barriers persist, despite the importance of these individuals and communities as both stakeholders and stewards, ones from whom the world has much to learn. Further, we recognize that the same people who have been systemically excluded from the process are disproportionately hurt by degraded air, lands and waters, perpetuating a cycle of harm and exclusion.
We commit to be part of breaking this cycle. We commit to prioritizing listening and taking clear steps externally and internally to combat racism and oppression of all types. We commit to working toward justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in our leadership, our programs, our strategic planning, our operations, our communications and our fundraising. We commit to creating a culture at the foundation that educates staff and stakeholders on the issues of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion and holds opportunity for traditionally excluded groups to join in processes, activities and decision-making. We welcome and encourage feedback along the way.
We commit to understanding that this body of work IS our work if we are to achieve the goal of Half-Earth and benefit all people and species.
At the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, we acknowledge that centuries of racism, violence, discrimination and marginalization have obstructed participation of Black, Latinx, Indigenous and Asian people and communities of color in conservation globally. We acknowledge that barriers persist, despite the importance of these individuals and communities as both stakeholders and stewards, ones from whom the world has much to learn. Further, we recognize that the same people who have been systemically excluded from the process are disproportionately hurt by degraded air, lands and waters, perpetuating a cycle of harm and exclusion.
We commit to be part of breaking this cycle. We commit to prioritizing listening and taking clear steps externally and internally to combat racism and oppression of all types. We commit to working toward justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in our leadership, our programs, our strategic planning, our operations, our communications and our fundraising. We commit to creating a culture at the foundation that educates staff and stakeholders on the issues of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion and holds opportunity for traditionally excluded groups to join in processes, activities and decision-making. We welcome and encourage feedback along the way.
We commit to understanding that this body of work IS our work if we are to achieve the goal of Half-Earth and benefit all people and species.