Advice on how to spot fake news from the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. You can apply these principles to spot dubious claims from those who use unethical fund-raising methods. (Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.)

A hair-raising fund-raising story

This story begins with a post I read on LinkedIn. The article in question is trying to raise money for a conservation organization. Among several dubious claims, one stuck out. According to the author, for “approximately $12M a single donor could have protected, in perpetuity… trillions of microbial species.”

Well, I’m not a soil scientist. However, I’ve studied biodiversity since the mid-1980s. So I know that we understand microbial biodiversity too poorly to make such a claim. The writer is not a soil scientist, either. But that lack of expertise did not stop him from making this dramatic claim. I commented on his post that there is simply no agreement among biologists about the number of microbial species. In support, I found a Nature article that says, “estimates for the total number of microbial species vary wildly, from as low as 120,000 to tens of millions and higher.” Millions, maybe. But trillions? Who can say? Indeed, biologists can’t even agree on how well Mayr’s definition of species applies to microbes, and prokaryotes in particular. (See e.g., Konstantinidis, et al. 2006). The writer simply has no justification for stating that a donation could save “trillions of microbial species.”

Nevertheless, the writer insisted that he was correct in his use of that unverifiable number. I beg to differ. Any time someone uses an exaggeration, hyperbole or invented data to bolster a cause, particularly when trying to raise money, their motives are suspect. In the old days, such a person would be called a snake oil salesman, a charlatan, a conman or any number of other derogatory names. I avoided such epithets. Instead I tried to present my case rationally, from a scientific standpoint. To no avail.

Bogus claims

The writer made several other claims that I could challenge. For example, the claim that $12M could protect 11 million acres of “life-essential ecosystems.” I have helped to manage a small conservation non-profit called SavingSpecies for the past seven years. We focus on buying cheap, degraded land in high biodiversity areas of the world. The cheapest land we have been able to purchase was in Ecuador at just over $400 per acre. That land was infertile and eroded former cattle pasture. When we bought it, the land was not good even for that any more. So quite how the writer proposed to protect “in perpetuity” land comprising “life-essential ecosystems” for $1.09 per acre is a complete mystery to me.

The corrosive effects of fake news

Dubious claims such as these benefit no-one. Indeed, it’s a sad commentary on our times that we’re swamped with “fake news.” Look no further than Washington DC. You can see the corrosive effects of false and misleading information. For those of us who are in the fund-raising business, it’s more vital than ever to keep our facts and figures straight. Yes, there’s lots of competition for the donor dollar. But that does not justify using hyperbole. Bending facts, fudging figures, massaging data–these are the tools of hustlers and swindlers, not respectable fund-raising enterprises. Here’s why you should stick to the facts.

1. Exaggeration or dubious claims do your enterprise more harm than good.
2. Such claims damage your own credibility, and that of organizations for whom you’re working.
3. The claims of other hard-working fund-raisers and conservationists can also come under suspicion, particularly among non-experts.
4. You provide opponents of conservation with ammunition to use against conservation in general.
5. When donors give to causes based on exaggerated claims, and their expectations aren’t met, they will likely give their future gifts to unrelated causes.

Read up, stand up, and speak up

So, my fellow conservationists and fund-raisers, I implore you (1) to carefully read through claims to ensure that they are based on fact and are verifiable, (2) not to share or like any content that has questionable data, and (3) to call out the perpetrators when you encounter them. Otherwise, we risk being tarred by the same “fake news” brush that plagues other realms of the media. And that jeopardizes the entire donor-funded conservation enterprise.

REFERENCE
Konstantinidis, K, Ramette A and Tiedje JM (2006) The bacterial species definition in the genomic era. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 361(1475): 1929–1940. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2006.1920

The post Honesty, integrity and “fake news” in fund-raising for conservation appeared first on Biodiversity Professionals.

(Image courtesy of BBC.)

Do you know what the word “biodiversity” means?

In 2010, the UN Year of Biodiversity, the BBC conducted a survey. The survey showed that most people don’t know the meaning of “biodiversity.” Most people thought it was a type of laundry powder. Consider that in perspective. Biodiversity loss is the biggest problem facing us today, alongside global warming. Yet most people don’t even know what the word means. How many could actually give a definition? Given that lack of understanding, we can take hope. We surveyed the world’s languages. We found that most have their own word for “biodiversity.”

How to translate the word “biodiversity”

We used Google Translate to convert the word “biodiversity” into 103 languages. It’s impressive and heartening to realize that interest in biodiversity is truly global. We did find a few gaps! There were a few languages for which we couldn’t find an equivalent word. Do you know of the word for biodiversity in any of those languages? If so, please let us know in the comments, and we’ll add it to the list. Also, if you know of any language not in the list, please let us know. Either contact us, or write your comment below.

How to listen to the translated word for “biodiversity”

For non-native speakers of some of these languages, their word for biodiversity seems like a real tongue twister. If you want to hear how it’s pronounced, type “biodiversity” into the first window in Google Translate. Click the speaker icon below the translated word. You will hear the translated spoken word. (Not all languages have this feature.)

Original translation data

Click for the spreadsheet. Biodiversity translated into world languages

Please share this article to help raise global awareness of biodiversity.

List of words for biodiversity in 103 languages

Afrikaans – biodiversiteit
Albanian – biodiversiteti
Amharic – ብዝሃ ሕይወት
Arabic – التنوع البيولوجي
Armenian – Կենսաբազմազանություն
Azerbaijani – bioloji müxtəliflik
Bangla/Bengali – জীব বৈচিত্র্য
Basque – biodibertsitatea
Belarusian – біяразнастайнасці
Bosnian – biodiverzitet
Bulgarian – биологичното разнообразие
Burmese – ဇီဝမျိုးစုံမျိုးကွဲများ
Catalan – biodiversitat
Cebuano – biodiversidad
Chinese (Mandarin) – 生物多样性
Corsican – a biodiversità
Croatian – bioraznolikosti
Czech – biodiverzity
Danish – biodiversitet
Dutch – biodiversiteit
English – biodiversity
Esperanto – biodiverseco
Estonian – bioloogiline mitmekesisus
Filipino – biodiversity
Finnish – biodiversiteetti
French – biodiversité
Galacian – biodiversidade
Georgian – ბიომრავალფეროვნება
German – biodiversität
Greek – βιοποικιλότητα
Gujarati – જૈવવિવિધતા
Haitian Creole – divèsite biyolojik
Hausa – bambancin halittu
Hawaiian – nā meaola like’oleHebrew – המגוון הביולוגי
Hindi – जैव विविधता
Hmong – biodiversity
Hungarian – a biológiai sokféleség
Icelandic – líffræðileg fjölbreytileik
Igbo – Ụdị ndụ dị iche iche
Indonesian – keanekaragaman hayati
Irish – bithéagsúlacht
Italian – biodiversità
Japanese – 生物多様性
Javanese – keanekaragaman hayati
Kannada – ಜೀವವೈವಿಧ್ಯ
Kazakh – Биоәртүрлілік
Khmer – ជីវចំរុះ
Korean – 생물 다양성
Kurdish – biyanîparêz
Kyrgyz – биологиялык ар түрдүүлүк
Lao – ຊີວະນາໆພັນ
Latin – biodiversitatis
Latvian – bioloģiskā daudzveidība
Lithuanian – biologinė įvairovė
Luxembourgish – biodiversitéit
Macedonian – Биодиверзитет
Malagasy – harena voajanahary
Malay – biodiversitiMalayalam – ജൈവവൈവിദ്ധ്യം
Maltese – bijodiversità
Maori – te koiora
Marathi – जैवविविधता
Mongolian – Биологийн төрөл зүйл
Nepali – जैव विविधता
Norwegian – biologisk mangfold
Nyanja – zachilengedwe
Pashto – ژوندی تنوع
Persian – تنوع زیستی
Polish – różnorodności biologicznej
Portuguese – biodiversidade
Punjabi – ਜੀਵ ਵਿਭਿੰਨਤਾ
Romanian – biodiversitatea
Russian – биоразнообразия
Samoan – meaola eseese
Scottish Gaelic – bith-iomadachd
Serbian – Биодиверзитет
Shona – biodiversity
Sindhi – حياتي تنوع
Sinhala – ජෛව විවිධත්වය
Slovak – biodiverzita
Slovenian – biotske raznovrstnosti
Somali – kala duwanaanta bay’ada
Southern Sotho – mefuta-futa ea lihloliloeng
Spanish – biodiversidad
Sundanese – biodiversiti
Swahili – biodiversity
Swedish – biologiska mångfalden
Tajik – Гуногунии биологӣ
Tamil – பல்லுயிர்
Telugu – జీవవైవిధ్యం
Thai – ความหลากหลายทางชีวภาพ
Turkish – biyoçeşitlilik
Ukrainian – Біорізноманіття
Urdu – جیو ویو
Uzbek – bioxilma-xillik
Vietnamese – Đa dạng sinh học
Welsh – bioamrywiaeth
Western Frisian – biodiversity
Xhosa – eziphilayo
Yiddish – ביאָדיווערסיטי
Yoruba – oniruuru ipinsiyeleyele
Zulu – eziphilayo

Do these languages have a word for biodiversity?

Cambodian
Fiji
Quechua
Tatar
Tibetan
Tonga

The post The word for “biodiversity” in 103 different world languages appeared first on Biodiversity Professionals.

Citizen Science Coordinator Caitlin Kenney, a Student Conservation Association (SCA) intern, poses with an amphibian in the backcountry of Mount Rainier National Park. (Photo courtesy of NPS)

1. Citizen scientists help increase project reach

With the potential to amass millions of citizen scientists from around the globe, the amount of data that can be collected is unimaginable. Having so many individuals in the field at varying times may lead to exotic or innovative discoveries. “Enlisting input from a network of volunteer citizen scientists expands the reach of a project, sometimes beyond what scientists can imagine,” says National Geographic writer Karen de Seve.

2. Citizen science helps to stretch limited funding

Citizen scientists allow far greater amounts of data to be collected at little to no cost. Such economies of scale free up funds. Researchers have more time to be spent on data analysis. Andrea Korte reported in an AAAS article, “The work of the 2.3 million volunteer citizen scientists who contribute to biodiversity research have an economic value of up to $2.5 billion per year.”

3. Citizen scientists help raise local and governmental awareness

There’s no doubt that when enough people start to ask questions, others start to listen. Engaging citizens spreads the word of shrinking biodiversity. According to the European Environment Agency, “Involving people in monitoring gives them a basic understanding of the underlying threat to biodiversity…” Furthermore, such involvement “…can facilitate a willingness to contribute to solving the problem.” World-changing movements always start with people’s passionate interest in a problem. Impassioned citizen scientists have the power to alter the world around them. They can bring problems to the attention of people with the ability to enact change.

4. Citizen scientists may experience transformative learning

TD Jakes said it best, “There is nothing as powerful as a changed mind.” When an individual momentarily exits their busy lifestyle, taking time to study the world around them, what they learn can change their life. Many people are unaware of how their choices affect the world around them. The clothing they wear, the food they eat, their mode of transportation can all impact their local environment. A citizen scientist can help biodiversity by changing the way they live and inspiring those around them.

5. Citizen science can help to prevent extinctions

The loss of many species populations goes largely unnoticed until it is far too late. UCLA recently called for greater public participation in citizen science. According to their report, monitoring by citizen scientists can lead to “early detection of species decline.” Identifying a problem is the first step towards rectification. Training citizen scientists to participate in conservation research increases the efficiency of our work to protect biodiversity.

We see the potential for citizen science in such initiatives as Bioblitzes. Conservationists must now take advantage. Here is their opportunity to conduct more research—cheaper and faster—while at the same time connecting people across the world in a common purpose. We, as members of the human race, all share the responsibility to be stewards of our planet’s biodiversity for economic, aesthetic and moral reasons. Climate is changing. Human population is increasing. Cities expand while species vanish into extinction. It is now more important now than ever to take action.

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