Conservation: Making a Difference Near and Far

By Dr. James Danoff-Burg, Director of Conservation

At The Living Desert, our conservation fieldwork is global in focus with many local projects as well. Led by our Conservation team, we seek to address the root causes of species decline and not just the symptoms. We repair ecosystems and empower communities so that all can live sustainably and undo human-caused damages to nature.

Many projects involve growing the plants to be outplanted into degraded habitats. For example, one project removes water-hungry invasive trees, which can dry out the creeks where endangered desert pupfish live, while also planting native plants to suppress invasive regrowth. Secondly, we replant native species that have vanished due to irresponsible human activity and climate change to benefit desert tortoises and create what amount to “Tortoise Restaurants.” A third approach involves assessing how well habitats may support reintroducing the Sonoran pronghorn, missing from California for over 80 years. The last approach creates naturalistic habitats in urban areas. We are planting native pollinator gardens and native street trees, benefitting all the nearby native wildlife – and also local human communities. All this biologically-based work directly benefits the entire ecosystem, not just the animal species that we are striving to protect.

Our community-based work focuses on trying to change human behavior to benefit nature. Our Time to Talk Trash campaign encourages people to properly dispose of their trash, as poor organic waste disposal provides food subsidies for ravens, allowing their populations to grow 1,800% greater than normal. Ravens are predators that eat endangered birds,

lizards, and young desert tortoises. Our Gold Star Restaurant program across the north side of Joshua Tree National Park encourages support and patronage for restaurants that actively close their dumpsters and deny extra food to ravens.

We cannot improve what we do not measure. We share our ample conservation social science expertise with our international collaborators to evaluate the success of their community engagement projects. Many of our international partners, including Wild Nature Institute, Painted Dog Research Trust, and the Black Mambas Anti-Poaching Unit, have asked us to gauge how successful their behavior change programs have been. This evaluation helps these world-leading conservationists be even more effective.

Furthermore, The Living Desert’s Building Community Conservation Success (BCCS) social science training workshops have significantly changed the way conservation engagement happens. These BCCS workshops train conservation biologists to work with communities to address the human-created root causes of the issues facing wildlife. Despite the challenges of COVID, The Living Desert’s BCCS program has trained 356 people from 29 countries!

Conservation is full of complex problems rooted in human behavior. Saving species requires us all to collaborate to lessen our impact on the world - we all are essential, including staff, volunteers, donors, supporters, and the general public. Thanks for all you do to help us engage people to save species and restore habitats!

OUR GLOBAL CONSERVATION REACH

As desert conservation leaders, we support and participate in world-wide conservation efforts to prevent species extinction from the smallest pupfish to the tallest giraffe. Here at The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens, we care for over 600 animals, of which 407 are listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened species. As a conservation organization, we are committed to our mission of desert conservation. Locally, nationally, and abroad we are involved in 53 projects in 11 countries, partnering with 73 global conservation organizations that support the protection of biological diversity, the creation and restoration of intact ecosystems, and community building and sustainability.

Coachella Valley

Bighorn Sheep, Casey’s June Beetle, Desert Pupfish, Desert Tortoise, Desert Willow, Smoketree, Sonoran Pronghorn, and Western Pond Turtle.

New Mexico

Mexican Wolf.

Gulf of California

Peninsular Pronghorn, and Vaquita .

Paraguay

Lowland Tapir.

Chad

Black Rhino, and Scimitar-Horned Oryx.

Namibia

Cheetah.

South Africa

Greater Kudu, White Rhino, and Black Rhino.

Botswana

Cheetah

Zimbabwe

African Painted Dog

Tanzania

Black Rhino, Elephant, and Giraffe.

Kenya

Black Rhino, Cheetah, Elephant, Grevy's Zebra, and Lion.

India

Lion and Leopard.

YOUR INVESTMENT INCREASES OUR ABILITY TO BE GLOBAL CHANGE MAKERS.