E.O. Wilson Half Earth

E.O. Wilson is the Renaissance Man of conservation. He bridges the gap between scientific knowledge and human ethics while bringing issues of global extinction into public lime light. We were honored to host this conservation celebrity at our 2015 Wildlife Film Festival and Conservation Summit, where scientists, conservationists, and content creators were enlightened with the unforgettable wisdom of Wilson, which we hope will inspire a renewal and revival of conservation efforts.

In this clip, Wilson offers hope. "The world is full of opportunity." We, as citizens of this Earth, are living in a precious moment where we can take advantage of the opportunity to save species by setting aside wild land. Or, we take no action and watch as our planet's biodiversity disappears. Wilson has a way of making conservation strategies simple. Numbers don't lie, and by using the mathematical relationship between habitable environment and number of species, Wilson concludes that 1/2 of the planet needs to be reserved for non-human life. Who knows, Wilson's novel idea could soon become a widespread notion, such as his theory of island biogeography. I first learned about Wilson when his book, The Theory of Island Biogeography, was assigned in my college ecology class. We hope that our ability to spread his big idea will culminate into public desire and action to conserve our planet. There is no need to wait and take a college class to learn how we can save biodiversity. -Sarika Khanwilkar