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Field stations deliver high return on investment for conservation, study finds

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The term “field station” has an air of mystery, conjuring images of some tropical or icy outpost where scientists go to “do science.” And while it’s true that scientific research is the backbone of field stations, these places also provide many overlooked benefits and a huge return on investment for conservation, according to a new study authored by 173 conservation researchers. “Field research stations are a cost-effective and multifaceted tool to addressing global conservation challenges and not just places where esoteric research is conducted, as is often the perception,” said Russ Mittermeier, chief conservation officer of Re:wild and senior author on the paper, published this week in Conservation Letters. The study surveyed managers of 157 field stations in 56 countries where primates live (in Africa, Asia, Central and South America). Managers of field stations reported improved habitat quality, reduced hunting, and better law enforcement compared to areas without stations. “If you’re near a field station, you have much healthier ecosystem and less degradation,” Timothy Eppley, lead author of the paper and chief conservation officer of Wildlife Madagascar, told Mongabay. “There’s practically no hunting in and around most field stations.” Aerial view of the LuiKotale Bonobo Project (Max-Planck-Institute of Animal Behavior, Germany) field station, operational since 2002, in the evergreen lowland rainforest of the western buffer zone of Salonga National Park, Block South, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Photo © LKBP / Christian Ziegler. The study found areas near field stations lost about 18% less forest than similar spots without stations,…This article was originally published on Mongabay

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