Conservation: Western Pacific and New York State

Contributing to conservation of species on Pacific islands is a common thread for our research, since Pacific island land snails are among the most threatened species on Earth (Lydeard et al., 2004), and also some of the most poorly known. The technical reports, threat assessments for the IUCN (Rundell, In Press) and contributions to outreach in the Republic of Palau and Micronesia are critical for: 1) building biodiversity literacy in those regions (an important first step in helping build capacity for conservation work), 2) contributing to the conservation of those habitats, not only for current and future research interests, but to preserve ecosystem and watershed value for future citizens of their respective countries, and 3) understanding where diversity patterns might overlap with other species of concern (e.g. birds and herps) to target future management efforts. These contributions remain ongoing responsibilities for myself and anyone working on Pacific island biotas.

Exciting opportunities for conservation-focused projects also exist throughout New York State. Please check out Belau, Federated States of Micronesia and New York State pages to explore ongoing projects and future directions in those areas.