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Lets Keep Track Of The Goal

By Matt J. Weiss, November 1, 2008 @ 02:00 AM (EST)

Jason recently pointed me to a blog post by his friend Felix Leander. In his blog Felix expresses concerns over the growing amount of different opinions on shark conservation. He states “the bickering between people on Shark Group forums; [that] scientists do not like one another and…organizations refuse to work together” is a major problem for the conservation of the species.

I may not go as far as Felix in saying that “too many people have their own agendas and are just using sharks and their misfortune as an opportunity to springboard themselves to ‘fame,’ because I do think that many of the said organizations or people have the genuine intentions of saving sharks. That said, I do believe that the numerous conservation agencies and sometimes their differing opinions are hindering their abilities to protect sharks.

Perhaps other than sound science, the most important aspect of conservation is money. However, if there are too many different entities working on the same thing, then whatever amount of money comes in is dissipated among them, making the sum effect of all the individual entities contributions smaller than it would be if the money was given to a single organization. Furthermore, if these entities have conflicting views than their work and resources are simply fighting against each other and causing little to no shark protection.

This problem has been encountered before in conservation efforts, perhaps most regrettably and disastrously in Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica. The park had at one point over 14 NGOs trying to fight for the protection of a prime piece of lowland forest in Costa Rica. However, their “fight” was largely ineffective due to conflicting views and the dissipation of money to all the different NGOs. Today, the park is considered on of the worst failed conservation attempts.

Do we want the same fate for sharks? If not, perhaps it's better to simply support an existing entity than try and create your own. Shark conservation is hot right now. It's in. But is it effective? I hope it's not true that a large amount of shark conservation efforts are fueled by vanity and a personal agenda rather than passion for protection and science, but either way, maybe its time we all came together to think about shark conservation.

Maybe that way something can get done. Felix ends with a quote from Seth Gordin’s book on leadership called “Tribes” which says that “There's no record of Martin Luther King Jr. or Gandhi whining about credit. Credit isn't the point. Change is." Felix, thanks for the reminder to all of us that we should not lose sight.

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