Nature conservation is the protection and restoration of species and ecosystems. Its purpose is to sustain the diversity of life on Earth, which is being lost at a rate unprecedented in the past 65 million years. This "biodiversity crisis" has implications for human flourishing, but conservation and biodiversity remain nebulous concepts to most people.
In this introduction I explain the purpose of the case for conservation podcast, and outline some basic concepts. I also describe the format that I will be using, and generally try to give the listener some idea of what to expect from subsequent episodes. In all of those subsequent episodes, I will be interviewing guests, and getting into specific topics.
My name is André Mader. I am a conservation biologist by training, with a focus mostly on biodiversity policy but an interest in a wide spectrum of topics within and outside conservation. I grew up in South Africa and, thanks to my career, I've been based in various parts of that beautiful country, as well as the Middle East, Canada, Switzerland, and now Japan.