State of the Wild

In wild places where nature thrives, humanity prospers; our well-being is inextricably linked with that of the planet’s web of life. In fact, one could argue that the state of the world can be measured by the state of the wild. But how do we gauge the state of earth’s wildlife, wild lands, and oceans? State of the Wild is a new series published by Island Press that brings together some of the world's most renowned conservationists and writers--including WCS’ own George Schaller, Alan Rabinowitz, Liz Bennett, and Robert Cook--to assess wildlife and wilderness and to provide insights into how humans can become better stewards of the wild. Produced by the WCS Institute, State of the Wild is the only book that draws on all the intellectual resources of WCS to further the organization's mission. While the themes in the State of the Wild series reflect emerging conservation priorities for WCS, more than fifty percent of the writers are from other institutions. Each volume in the series combines evocative writings with a fascinating tour of regional conservation challenges and highlights, plus vital statistics from around the world.

The 2006 edition devotes a section to exploring the impacts of hunting and wildlife trade around the globe. In a world where many people depend on harvesting wild species for their livelihoods, the combined effects of a burgeoning human population and growing international wildlife markets have been devastating for wildlife and the environment. Reducing hunting to sustainable levels and controlling the wildlife trade, while providing alternate means of income and fulfilling the protein needs of the developing world, is a challenge to reconcile. State of the Wild 2006 addresses this challenge through a dialogue of responsive essays: Ted Kerasote traces the history of hunting in North America; Carl Safina, Eric Gilman, and Wallace J. Nichols quantify the toll taken by commercial fishing on seabirds, turtles, and other marine species; and James Compton and Samuel K. H. Lee explore the global reach of the wildlife trade that supplies ingredients for traditional Asian medicine. Contributors to the 2006 edition also examine other pivotal conservation issues, from the reasons why one in eight of the world’s birds are endangered, to the effects of global climate change on wildlife, and the complexity of conserving seals, flamingos, zebras, and other wide-ranging species. The result is a breadth of perspectives on potential solutions to how humans can become better stewards of the wild.

The next volume, set for release in early 2008, will contain a special section on emerging wildlife health and disease issues. Avian Influenza, SARS, and West Nile virus are just the most recent examples of the inextricable link between the health of people, domestic animals, wildlife and the environment. The Wildlife Conservation Society recognizes the long-term implications of the links between environmental, animal and human health. Population growth and escalating appetites for goods and energy, climate change, natural resource depletion, and globalization itself are fundamentally altering the biosphere as we know it. Habitat degradation, hydrological changes, increased livestock production to meet rising global meat demands, wildlife trade, and other man-made disturbances foster conditions for resurging and emerging pathogens. More than half of all human pathogens are known to be zoonotic--diseases that pass from animals to people. Today, pathogens can jump continents in a matter of days: More than 2 billion passengers fly commercially each year, and hundreds of millions of live animals and plants are shipped internationally. Local and regional consumption of wild animal meat in Central Africa alone is estimated at more than 1 billion kilograms per year, and in the Amazon Basin an estimated 6.4 to 15.8 million wild mammals alone are believed to be consumed per year. Approximately forty-two million acres of forest are cleared every year (more than 1 acre per second), with wildlife, people, and their livestock coming into ever more intimate contact. These factors and others contribute to an upward trend in the emergence and spread of zoonotic diseases worldwide. The consequences of new, more virulent and mutating pathogens can be devastating for both humans and animals. Apart from directly impacting health, disease affects food production and food security and impacts virtually every major global industry– including financial, travel, trade, and tourism sectors worldwide. In the current highly pathogenic avian influenza situation, with hundreds of millions of domestic fowl culled to date, direct economic costs are already in the tens of billions of dollars. This is just one example of what can happen when a substantial agricultural or public health threat, real or perceived, arises. The Emerging Wildlife Health Threats section of State of the Wild 2008 will address wildlife disease issues around the world and how they affect current and future conservation efforts. The 2008 edition includes work by David Quammen, William Karesh, and Mike Fay.

The answers that State of the Wild posits to conserving wildlife and wildlands in a developing world rely on the conceit that, as George Schaller eloquently states in the 2006 edition's introductory chapter, “We all live under the same sun. It is everyone’s task, each in his or her own way, to assume the role of preserver with clarity of purpose, passion, and perseverance.” In the 21st century, international NGOs and global corporations, grassroots conservationists and local governments, legislators and citizens have all become universal stakeholders in the health of our planet.

The State of the Wild Editorial Board, chaired by Kent Redford (Director, WCS Institute), includes Debbie Behler (Editor-in-Chief, Wildlife Conservation Magazine), Stephen Sautner (Assistant Director, Communications), Bill Weber (Senior Conservationist, International Conservation Programs), Peter Zahler (Assistant Director, Asia Program), and Nancy Clum (Assistant Curator, Ornithology), and Dan Wharton (Director, Central Park Zoo).

This page was last updated on 12-14-2006.