The Case for Conservation podcast invites experts once a month. The guests’ professional backgrounds range from ecologists, economists, young professionals, Nobel Prize winners, and journalists to people from the media world. Sometimes, according to the official podcast website, it also takes a willingness to re-examine conventional wisdom. André Mader is the host of the podcast.
Podcast URL: https://www.case4conservation.com
Episode Guide
| No. | Episode | Title | Guests | Navigate to episode | Published | Description Excerpt | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 64 | 62 | 62. Why is nuance missing from environmental discourse? (Roger Pielke Jr.) | Roger Pielke Jr. | 2025-12-16 | The intersection of science, politics, and environmental discourse is full of puzzles: why has nuance gone missing from the conversation? Why are heterodox or balanced … | Alarmism, Climate communication, Environmental discourse, Expert trust, Media framing, Policy advocacy, Science-policy interface, Scientific assessments, Scientific integrity, Stakeholder engagement, Transformative change, Trust in institutions, Value-based debate | |
| 63 | 61 | 61. Rewilding: What? And why? (Marine Drouilly) | Marine Drouilly | 2025-10-16 | The concept of rewilding has been applied in various ways, from the simple restoration of a single natural process like removing livestock to allow vegetation … | Biodiversity restoration, Ecosystem processes, Human–wildlife coexistence, Keystone species, Landscape connectivity, Rewilding, Restoration ecology, Social acceptance, Stakeholder conflict, Trophic rewilding, Wildlife governance | |
| 62 | 60 | 60. What’s the role of youth in environmental decision-making? (Mika Tan) | Mika Tan | 2025-09-15 | Multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) are negotiated by national governments, but they also include input from various societal groups. One of these groups is youth, and … | Civil society participation, Environmental governance, Intergenerational equity, Multilateral environmental agreements, Observer organizations, Policy advocacy, Public trust, Stakeholder engagement, Sustainable development, UN processes, Youth participation | |
| 61 | 59 | 59. Nature-based Solutions - NbS (Joy Ommer) | Joy Ommer | 2025-08-24 | One of the most popular terms in conservation these days is “nature-based solutions” (NbS). The concept is centered around the various ways in which conservation … | Co-benefits, Disaster risk reduction, Ecosystem restoration, Environmental impact assessment, Flood risk management, Green infrastructure, Hybrid solutions, Nature-based solutions, Pre-assessment, Risk mitigation, Trade-offs | |
| 60 | 58 | 58. Precision agriculture: farming on steroids, or boon to conservation? (Mark McConnell) | Mark McConnell | 2025-07-14 | The term "precision agriculture" has high-tech and “big ag.” connotations, and is usually not associated with biodiversity. But there is a strong argument to be … | Agricultural runoff, Biodiversity loss, Conservation incentives, Cover crops, Decision support tools, Farm Bill, GPS guidance, Land sharing, Land sparing, Nutrient management, Precision agriculture, Precision conservation, Profit mapping, Variable rate application, Yield mapping | |
| 59 | 57 | 57. What are we getting wrong about biodiversity loss? (Maria Dornelas) | Maria Dornelas | 2025-06-04 | The concept of biodiversity loss is absolutely integral to conservation, and I have never met anyone who has seriously challenged the idea that too many … | Biodiversity change, Biodiversity loss, Conservation narratives, Ecological uncertainty, Extinction rates, Global biodiversity, Habitat change, Homogenization, Local biodiversity, Macroecology, Population dynamics, Species composition, Species richness, Temporal change, Time series data | |
| 58 | 56 | 56. Conservation in Ukraine: How? And why? (Marine Elbakidze) | Marine Elbakidze | 2025-05-07 | Although we all have our problems, war is usually not among them. But if you do live in a war-torn country like Ukraine, war is … | Community gardens, Conservation, Decentralization, Ecosystem restoration, Environmental crimes, Environmental damage, Environmental monitoring, Food security, Forest governance, Forest fires, FSC certification, Land attachment, Nature based solutions, Post war restoration, Renewable energy | |
| 57 | 55 | 55. What's the risk of fads in conservation? (Kent Redford) | Kent Redford | 2025-04-11 | Conservation competes with a variety of other societal priorities and interests for funding and for attention. As a result, conservation projects, programmes and even broader … | Buzzwords, Conservation fads, Donor incentives, Ecosystem services, Institutional memory, Nature positive, Nature’s contributions to people, Policy language, Protected areas, Sustainable use, Synthetic biology | |
| 56 | 54 | 54. What does Trump 2.0 mean for the environment? (Quill Robinson) | Quill Robinson | 2025-03-10 | America’s reelection of Donald Trump has brought about all manner of changes in US and global politics. Some have a direct effect on environmental issues … | Climate policy, Energy dominance, Environmental regulation, Environmental justice, Fossil fuels, Geopolitics, Industrial policy, Inflation Reduction Act, Natural gas, Permitting reform, Public lands, US environmental policy | |
| 55 | 53 | 53. Shouldn't we reframe environmental narratives? (Ragini Prasad) | Ragini Prasad | 2025-02-10 | Among most legacy media outlets and on social media, narratives about environmental issues, as well as social issues, are noticeably more extreme than they used … | Climate change discourse, Environmental narratives, Fear messaging, Media hyperbole, Misinformation, Polarization, Public engagement, Risk communication, Science communication, Social media algorithms, Systems thinking | |
| 54 | 52 | 52. What’s all the fuss about the EU Nature Restoration Law? (Brian MacSharry) | Brian MacSharry | 2025-01-13 | It’s not often that biodiversity legislation grabs international headlines, but thats what happened repeatedly in 2024 with the European Union’s new Nature Restoration Law. It … | ||
| 53 | 51 | 51. What's all this talk about biodiversity credits? (Harrison Carter) | Harrison Carter | 2024-12-13 | From time to time certain concepts rise to prominence in biodiversity conservation circles, and some of these follow in the footsteps of climate change analogs. … | ||
| 52 | 50 | 50. How do we get to a more sustainable society? (Sharachchandra Lele) | Sharachchandra Lele | 2024-11-12 | Half a century ago a group of more than 2,000 scientists signed a warning of environmental crisis and nuclear war. Named after the French town … | ||
| 51 | 49 | 49. Should we worry about zombie organizations? (Julia Gray) | Julia Gray | 2024-10-08 | International organizations, or “IOs” for short, are typically organizations to which multiple countries belong as members. They cover virtually every aspect of human endeavor and … | ||
| 50 | 48 | 48. What about free market environmentalism? (Ronald Bailey) | Ronald Bailey | 2024-09-02 | Protection of the environment is strongly associated with regulation of the human activities that threaten it, and regulation is usually administered by government. Although almost … | ||
| 49 | 47 | 47. Why is whaling still... a thing? (Joji Morishita) | Joji Morishita | 2024-08-05 | There are few environmental issues more emotive than the hunting of whales. Although the focus of environmentalists has shifted to other topics in recent times, … | ||
| 48 | 46 | 46. Can agriculture become nature-friendly at scale? (Philippe Birker) | Philippe Birker | 2024-07-06 | Agriculture has been by far the biggest driver of land change and land degradation worldwide. And yet, it is also fundamental to the very existence … | ||
| 47 | 45 | 45. Are we really facing “insectageddon”? (Jane Hill) | Jane Hill | 2024-06-11 | Insects are among the most abundant organisms on Earth. About 350,000 beetle species, alone, have been described by science and this is considered to be … | ||
| 46 | 44 | 44. What happened to the Anthropocene? (Erle Ellis) | Erle Ellis | 2024-04-29 | Humankind’s transformation of the Earth is embodied in the idea that we are living in the “Anthropocene”. Most people who have heard of this concept … | ||
| 45 | 43 | 43. What is stealth advocacy in conservation? (Françoise Cardou) | Françoise Cardou | 2024-03-30 | Conservation and sustainability scientists are often expected to advise policymakers and other decision-makers. But some of the issues that they are expected to advise on, … | ||
| 44 | 42 | 42. Political polarization in sustainability science? (Örjan Bodin) | Örjan Bodin | 2024-03-04 | Sustainability science, which includes conservation biology and various other environmental studies, is not a “hard science” like physics or mathematics. Nevertheless, one might expect it … | ||
| 43 | 41 | 41. Is capitalism bad for the environment? (Russell Galt) | Russell Galt | 2024-02-05 | Capitalism gets a lot of negative press these days, and one of the main arguments against it is the environmental degradation with which it’s associated. … | ||
| 42 | 40 | 40. Should we resurrect extinct species? (Virginia Matzek) | Virginia Matzek | 2024-01-12 | As a result of our success as a species, we have been ushering other species toward extinction for thousands of years. The pace of those … | ||
| 41 | 39 | 39. The global biodiversity targets (Alice Hughes) | Alice Hughes | 2023-12-13 | Many conservation managers and scientists may not be aware that there is a single, common set of global biodiversity targets that inform national conservation strategy … | ||
| 40 | 38 | 38. Should science and activism be kept separate? (Andrea Bandelli) | Andrea Bandelli | 2023-11-08 | This month’s episode is about activism and science communication, and whether or not they should be combined. There are obvious tensions here because science is … | ||
| 39 | 37 | 37. What is climate change doing to biodiversity? (Adam Welz) | Adam Welz | 2023-10-02 | Climate change gets a lot more attention and funding than biodiversity. But, as conservation organizations are keen to point out, climate and biodiversity are intimately … | ||
| 38 | 36 | 36. Biodiversity & agriculture: appreciating the trade-offs (Prabhu Pingali) | Prabhu Pingali | 2023-09-04 | In decades past, conservation was notorious for ignoring other development goals. These days, its focus has expanded to consider those other goals, including the prevention … | ||
| 37 | 35 | 35. Are we obsessed with species? (Frank Zachos) | Frank Zachos | 2023-08-07 | Species. We take them for granted as the main currency of biodiversity. But how many of us really know what species are? And do we … | ||
| 36 | 34 | 34. Is there still hope for the world’s corals? (Mike Emslie) | Mike Emslie | 2023-07-02 | Historically, the oceans have received too little attention in discussions about the environment and biodiversity. On the topic of biodiversity loss in particular, however, one … | ||
| 35 | 33 | 33. Is ESG investing good for biodiversity? (Ken Pucker) | Ken Pucker | 2023-06-05 | ESG is the latest buzzword in business & biodiversity circles, but it’s not actually new - only newly popular. And it’s one among many terms … | ||
| 34 | 32 | 32. When should we question environmental orthodoxy? (Russell Galt) | Russell Galt | 2023-05-04 | There is a tendency in societies to adhere to conventional wisdom. We resist challenges to consensus views, and may even dismiss those who do challenge … | ||
| 33 | 31 | 31. Biodiversity risk and the law (Zaneta Sedilekova) | Zaneta Sedilekova | 2023-04-03 | You may have heard of the concept of “biodiversity risk”, especially in the context of business. It has become increasingly widely used in recent years … | ||
| 32 | 30 | 30. Multilateral environmental agreements - MEAs (Peter Bridgewater) | Peter Bridgewater | 2023-03-06 | Wherever conservation takes place, at whatever scale, and in whatever form, there’s a good chance that it is somehow affected by the decisions taken under … | ||
| 31 | 29 | 29. Biodiversity offsets: A necessary evil? (Martine Maron) | Martine Maron | 2023-02-05 | In days gone by development (of cities, infrastructure, agriculture, etc.) happened without regard for the environment. And it was really the devastating effects of unimpeded … | ||
| 30 | 28b | 28b. Politics, the media, and the environment (Omnia El Omrani) | Omnia El Omrani | 2023-01-14 | After decades of struggling for recognition, environmental issues, including biodiversity conservation, have exploded onto the global scene in recent years. This is incredibly encouraging and … | ||
| 29 | 28a | 28a. Politics, the media, and the environment (Esther Krakue) | Esther Krakue | 2022-12-19 | After decades of struggling for recognition, environmental issues, including biodiversity conservation, have exploded onto the global scene in recent years. This is incredibly encouraging and … | ||
| 28 | 27 | 27. Deforestation and zoonotic disease spillover - a complex relationship (Andre Mader) | Andre Mader | 2022-11-07 | This month, for the first time, I am the interviewee rather than the interviewer. This episode was recorded for BioScience Talks, the podcast of the … | ||
| 27 | 26 | 26. Perceptions of science communication (Neil Waters & Erin Kawazu) | Neil Waters; Erin Kawazu | 2022-10-03 | Covid-19 has, probably more than anything, ever, made science communication a matter of public interest. A couple of weeks before recording this episode, the journal … | ||
| 26 | 25 | 25. Why could urbanization save biodiversity? (Eric Sanderson) | Eric Sanderson | 2022-08-01 | Cities - even the greenest of them - replace nature with glass, concrete and asphalt. And their footprint extends far beyond their boundaries to provide … | ||
| 25 | 24 | 24. Can GMOs benefit biodiversity? (Joseph Opoku Gakpo) | Joseph Opoku Gakpo | 2022-07-04 | Few technologies are viewed with as much suspicion as genetic modification. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are banned in several parts of the world; an entire … | ||
| 24 | 23 | 23. How alarmed should we be about the environment? (Matt Ridley) | Matt Ridley | 2022-06-05 | This episode is about environmental alarmism. Alarmism means exaggerating danger and thereby causing needless worry or panic. These days the media is flooded with proclamations … | ||
| 23 | 22 | 22. Trophy hunting: Who's to judge? (Lochran Traill) | Lochran Traill | 2022-05-02 | Most people outside Africa probably don’t associate trophy hunting with conservation. In fact, certain publicized incidents of trophy hunting have caused something of a global … | ||
| 22 | 21 | 21. How can we better understand environmental change? (Timm Hoffman) | Timm Hoffman | 2022-04-04 | In 1975, biologist Paul Ehrlich said that 90% of tropical rainforests would be lost by about 2005. Although their loss has continued at a steady … | ||
| 21 | 20 | 20. Is renewable energy better for biodiversity? (Alexandros Gasparatos) | Alexandros Gasparatos | 2022-03-07 | Renewable energy is one of the great hopes of humankind when it comes to addressing the threat of climate change and some forms of pollution. … | ||
| 20 | 19 | 19. Is aquaculture good or bad for the environment? (Roz Naylor) | Roz Naylor | 2022-02-06 | It’s widely agreed that one of our greatest global environmental challenges is the impact of fisheries on the oceans. Aquaculture, practiced at a small scale … | ||
| 19 | 18 | 18. Can we balance people's and nature's water needs? (Jenny Day) | Jenny Day | 2022-01-03 | Freshwater biodiversity tends to be the most threatened of all types of biodiversity. In this episode I speak with Jenny Day about the state of … | ||
| 18 | 17 | 17. Are we conserving for the right reasons? (Sharachchandra Lele) | Sharachchandra Lele | 2021-12-05 | Much has been written about why we wish to protect nature. The initial motivation for conservation was ostensibly for nature's own sake. Around the 1980s, … | ||
| 17 | 16 | 16. How do we cultivate enthusiasm for nature? (Steven Lowe) | Steven Lowe | 2021-11-01 | People from various walks of life have an affinity to nature. Why is that, and why is nature important to us? This episode is less … | ||
| 16 | 15 | 15. Is conservatism better for conservation? (Quill Robinson) | Quill Robinson | 2021-10-04 | Why has environmentalism come to be considered a left-wing agenda, even though much of its history has conservative roots? And what does it even mean … | ||
| 15 | 14 | 14. How do conservationists keep going? (Widar Narvelo & Grant Pearsell) | Widar Narvelo; Grant Pearsell | 2021-09-06 | Most conservationists are motivated by the purpose of their work. But that work often involves a lot of struggle and it can be daunting, especially … | ||
| 14 | 13 | 13. Does biodiversity prevent pandemics? (Dan Salkeld) | Dan Salkeld | 2021-08-02 | There is a lot in the media these days about how protecting biodiversity reduces the risk of zoonotic disease spillover, and hence the risk of … | ||
| 13 | 12 | 12. Is hype distorting science? (Randy Schekman) | Randy Schekman | 2021-07-05 | The scientific method remains the best systematic approach we have been able to develop in our ongoing endeavor to advance human flourishing. But that does … | ||
| 12 | 11 | 11. Performative conservation: What's wrong with showing off? (Adam Welz) | Adam Welz | 2021-06-07 | These days some very impressive-sounding conservation projects are catching the public eye, from massive tree-planting initiatives to high-profile urban greening. They capture the headlines and … | ||
| 11 | 10 | 10. How's it going with protected areas? (Brian MacSharry) | Brian MacSharry | 2021-05-02 | Protected areas like nature reserves and national parks are about the most fundamental manifestation of nature conservation there is, and have existed in various forms … | ||
| 10 | 9 | 9. Is there still racial discrimination in conservation? (Gillian Burke) | Gillian Burke | 2021-04-05 | Many Western nations have been undergoing a period of intense reflection on issues of discrimination. Recent incidents have re-ignited social movements like Black Lives Matter. … | ||
| 9 | 8 | 8. How can indigenous & local knowledge complement biodiversity science? (Zsolt Molnár) | Zsolt Molnár | 2021-03-01 | Indigenous peoples and local communities are increasingly recognized for the importance of their contribution to global biodiversity knowledge. But is indigenous & local knowledge (ILK) … | ||
| 8 | 7 | 7. Are alien species always a net negative? (Martin Schlaepfer) | Martin Schlaepfer | 2021-01-31 | Invasive alien species are considered one of the five main direct drivers of biodiversity loss, worldwide, as well as causing untold damage to economic assets … | ||
| 7 | 6 | 6. Why should cities play a bigger role in conservation? (Debra Roberts) | Debra Roberts | 2021-01-01 | Since about 2007 most of the world's population has been living in cities and, if there's one thing we're learning about conservation, it's that people … | ||
| 6 | 5 | 5. Is nature conservation being too conservative? (Michelle Marvier) | Michelle Marvier | 2020-12-01 | Uncertainty of outcomes is a feature of conservation. That's perhaps why the "precautionary principle" is held so sacred in this field. But, considering the potential … | ||
| 5 | 4 | 4. Who'd want to choose conservation as a career? (Nick Askew) | Nick Askew | 2020-11-10 | The conservation of nature and biodiversity is often considered to be a labor of love. After all, why would anyone want to dedicate their career … | ||
| 4 | 3 | 3. Are we getting conservation right in developing countries? (Mao Amis) | Mao Amis | 2020-10-04 | Ongoing biodiversity loss is most severe in the developing world, but the funding for conservation comes mostly from the developed world. In the past, conservation … | ||
| 3 | 2 | 2. What do we really know about the links between nature and COVID-19? (David Duthie) | David Duthie | 2020-09-15 | This episode explores the links between nature and COVID-19, and between nature and zoonotic disease in general. We examine the common assertion that the degradation … | ||
| 2 | 1 | 1. Is the conservation message getting through? (Tim Hirsch) | Tim Hirsch | 2020-09-15 | This episode explores the question of whether the conservation message is "getting through" and, if not, why not? Communication of this message is necessary because … | ||
| 1 | 0 | Introduction to the case for conservation podcast (André Mader) | 2020-09-15 | 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 … |