ESGBERT/base_data · Datasets at Hugging Face

sentence stringlengths 1 23.5k ⌀
Here, the dotted green lines show the potential trajectory of lions, tigers, and jaguars with WCS’s immediate and long-term conservation action.
BALANCING POPULATIONS Sharks are predators at the top of the marine food chain—they keep ecosystems stable by maintaining the natural balance of species.
BOLSTERING LOCAL ECONOMIES Sustainable shark and ray tourism can help local communities and funnel funds back into conservation.
CYCLING NUTRIENTS Sharks often eat and eliminate in different places, transferring nutrients across the ecosystem.
BENEFITING CORAL REEFS Sharks maintain food webs and fi sh stocks and regulate invasive species.
Sharks generally hunt larger predatory fi sh, which in turn controls these larger species’ predation of smaller reef fi sh.
Many of those smaller species graze algae, which helps keep coral clean and healthy, thereby supporting the entire ecosystem.
The scraps from their hunting create a food source for scavengers.
Connecting People to Nature Saving Sharks in Though often feared, sharks maintain healthy ecosystems and are among the world’s most threatened species groups: open-ocean sharks have declined over 70 percent in the last 50 years.
Building on decades of expertise, WCS’s new countries that are strongholds for sharks and rays.
Overfishing is the main threat, and WCS is working with communities to craft locally relevant approaches to sustainable fisheries that foster the recovery of sharks and rays.
This strategy dovetails with our longstanding efforts to support national governments in safeguarding their most biodiverse waters through marine protected areas.
XIAOXING: I grew up in Beijing, a completely urban girl.
But from the age of four, I loved observing any animal I could find, which usually meant beetles.
As I made my way through forestry school and then a master’s degree in wildlife ecology, I kept hearing about WCS, which has an iconic reputation in China.
People talked about WCS scientists like George Schaller, who since in the harshest, most remote parts of Tibet, doing fundamental science on species like chiru and wild ass.
They said if you want to work with the toughest, most hardcore field biologists, you need to join WCS.
For six years, I looked for snow leopards in the Chang Tang region of the Tibetan Plateau, where the average elevation is 5,000 meters.
Because snow leopards are so elusive, we set up across 5,000+ square kilometers—creating the highest altitude camera trap network in the world .
We ran into lots of fierce Tibetan brown bears and rutting wild male yaks—and fixed many flat tires.
It was the most fun I’ve ever had.
XIAOXING: China has snow leopard habitat, and half of that is on the Tibetan Plateau.
Though WCS helped protect the Chang Tang through the creation of one of the world’s largest reserves, the snow leopard’s habitat extends into heavily populated areas.
As humans move in, we see fewer animals and more conflicts.
We interviewed family members to brown bears or wild yaks.
We’re working to figure out ways for people and animals to co-exist safely.
The glaciers are melting so fast I could watch it happen out in the field: every six months they’d retreat another dozen meters.
XIAOXING: Our exchanges with local people were so moving.
Even those who’d suffered great losses would often say that they understood, the animals also have children to feed.
There are retaliatory killings, but many of these people are Buddhists who value all life and regard these animals as their siblings.
[marks] of a snow leopard, and the longer, clawed track of a wolf.
He showed us where to find blue sheep, snow leopards’ favorite prey, and the best locations for our cameras.
him how many cats are in the area, he said exactly what the cameras ended up showing.
We were so grateful to have him on our team.
Nothing can replace that kind of lifelong on-theground experience.
I also, just once, got to see a wild snow leopard.
I was with Dr. Schaller in Qinghai province when a colleague spotted a tiny cat head on a distant ridgetop.
For several minutes he stared at us and we stared back.
George was happy—he hadn’t seen one for several years—but not as happy as me.
I jumped like a rocket, ran up the mountain, and found super-fresh scat and tracks in the snow.
I could still feel the power and beauty of this predator, a king free in his kingdom.
With a WCS scholarship, I am writing my PhD at the University of Florida on human-snow leopard coexistence.
technology is helping WCS and others roll out additional protections.
For example, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issues requests for ship “slow downs” when the two WCS-WHOI monitoring buoys relay data on the presence of North Atlantic right whales, in order to safeguard the approximated remain.
Additional studies by WCS and colleagues found that humpback whales in this area produce intricate songs and social sounds, and may be present nearly year round.
Rapidly Changing Arctic With climate change and melting sea ice, the Arctic is changing rapidly and new areas are opening up Saving Whales with Smart Science To see a whale for the first time is astonishing: an impossibly large, air-breathing mammal is visible for a moment, then disappears into the ocean depths.
But the history of whales and humans is marked by exploitation as well as reverence.
With a moratorium on commercial whaling and increased conservation efforts, some whale populations are slowly recovering.
As forage fish and other prey species are becoming more abundant in certain areas—including in waters off New York—some whales are increasingly using these habitats to feed.
However, a range of new threats including ocean noise, ship strikes, and entanglement in fishing gear mean that we must remain vigilant.
Since the early whale research and monitoring around the world, leading to greater protection of important whale habitats.
Today, WCS scientists are gathering and analyzing essential scientific data to assess the impact of increased noise and shipping on whales and other marine mammals.
This work is especially urgent in the busy New York seascape and in the Arctic, where melting sea ice is clearing pathways for potential increases in shipping.
Safeguarding Whales in the New York Seascape Diverse marine life—including humpback whales, harbor porpoises, bottlenose and common dolphins, fin whales, minke whales, and even the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale—can be seen in the New York Bight.
And while these are encouraging signs, NY/NJ is also home to the largest port on the eastern seaboard. Ship-strike risk and unusual mortalities for some species are major concerns.
These are some of the reasons why WCS’s effort to better understand whales’ habitat use and migration patterns through the waters off New York is so important and why we use our science to strongly advocate for their protection.
Right Whale WCS’s acoustic work with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in the New York seascape detects four species in near-real time, and some of this WCS’s leading marine mammal research has won comprehensive protections and lasting results.
Whales and other marine mammals depend on sound to live; they can hear over great distances, using sound to locate prey in some instances, and communicate with each other.
In the Arctic—home to bowhead and beluga whales, walrus, seals, and many more—WCS has generated a first-ever baseline of acoustical data in a key habitat, the Bering Strait.
This science empowers us and our Alaska Native partners to promote more targeted protections for iconic Arctic marine mammals and provides a way to monitor changes in the ocean’s soundscape.
Building on work in the New York seascape and the Arctic, WCS is launching a new effort to quiet ocean noise in the Western Indian Ocean.
In New York, WCS science is informing best practices for marine wildlife in the context of planned offshore wind projects; we are committed to minimizing potential impacts on marine mammals—from siting, to construction, to operation.
All of these actions will advance our long-term vision for whales, dolphins, and other marine mammals to thrive throughout the world’s oceans.
Sub-Surface Float ABOVE When buoys detect critically endangered right whales in the New York Bight, just outside the harbor area, NOAA issues a “slow down” request for ships.
A new kiosk at the New York Aquarium displays recent detections—allowing visitors to know which whales are just off our shores in near-real time.
Emerging and re-emerging viral disease outbreaks impacting people and animals have risen sharply in recent years.
Many of these viruses, including influenza, West Nile, HIV, and now SARS-CoVwildlife.
The global public health and economic crises unleashed by this zoonotic-origin pandemic have shone a harsh spotlight on the far-reaching dangers of the increasing contact between people and wildlife through deforestation, and the harmful commercial trade in wildlife for human consumption.
The One Health approach that WCS has pioneered recognizes the strong links between human, animal, and environmental health.
Building on decades of scientific leadership on this issue, WCS is partnering with governments to secure crucial, permanent changes that will protect human health and well-being, economies, and security on a global scale, while also preventing the devastation of the world’s wildlife and wild places.
This section highlights WCS’s progress in banning the commercial trade in wildlife for human consumption, our efforts to help local communities detect and reduce transmission of deadly diseases such as Ebola, and our long track record of leadership in wildlife health.
Pangolins are among the most highly trafficked animals in the world.
When animals are taken from the wild and sold in urban centers, they can be conduits for viruses that jump from animals to humans.
WCS is using strong science, policy, and action on the ground to protect trafficked species while safeguarding human health.
Along wildlife trade supply chains, wild and domestic animals that would never normally come into close contact are packed together.
Stressful and unsanitary conditions increase the chances of “spillover events” where pathogens move between animal hosts, then jump to humans.
The end result can be zoonotic-origin diseases like COVID-other potential pandemics or epidemics.
Now is the time to secure permanent changes that will protect human health, economies, and security on a global scale, while also preventing the devastation of the world’s wildlife.
Evidence shows that species threatened by habitat loss or exploitation can transmit more zoonotic-origin diseases.
In response, WCS is advancing a science-based strategy to end commercial trade in live, wild birds and mammals for human consumption.
Advancing Reform at the National Level Drawing on our scientific, policy, and fieldbased expertise, WCS is working with governments around the world to decrease the risk of spillover events by supporting wildlife trade policy reform and strengthening counter-wildlife trafficking efforts.
In China: In January the rapid spread of COVID-19, WCS issued a statement pushing for urgent action from governments and societies to end the wildlife trade.
RIGHT/BELOW To prevent future outbreaks, WCS is working to stop the commercial trade in wildlife for human consumption, particularly of birds and mammals.
Our longstanding counter-wildlife trafficking efforts also protect at-risk animals such as the slow loris and African grey parrot, which are highly trafficked for the illegal pet trade.
Health and animal care experts from WCS’s zoos and from our field sites have worked closely with law enforcement agencies to rehabilitate and release many confiscated animals back into the wild.
It also finalized a new biosecurity law with key provisions on zoonotic-origin disease prevention and control aligned with WCS’s prior recommendations.
With this new legislation in place, China has significantly stepped up law enforcement, regulation, and inspections in conjunction with strong recommendations from WCS.
For example, in Guangdong province alone, authorities conducted inspections than the previous year: more than 660,000 of markets, 8.2 million of businesses, and 1.2 million of farms.
The government shut down markets, farms, and restaurants nationwide found to be illegally trading wildlife in the first few months after the national ban.
In Vietnam: In government prohibited the import of live wildlife, called for stronger enforcement of wildlife trafficking, and directed its ministries to review wildlife farming operations and penalties for wildlife consumption.
BELOW WCS trains rangers and other law enforcement officials across the globe in how to use technology such as the SMART patrol system to target poaching hotspots, dismantle illegal trade networks, and monitor wildlife health.
I assign daily activities to my assistant officers and staff.
I also support the wildlife research station, located inside the protected area, guiding the systems for our tiger population monitoring.
Strengthening the day-to-day team and training them to make sound decisions is very satisfying and has had a positive impact on our conservation objectives.
For the Thai people, the sanctuary is at the heart of the conservation movement.
It has become a model for protected areas in Thailand and other countries in Southeast Asia because of its protections for tigers and other endangered species.
Most importantly, the populations of tigers and other endangered wildlife have been increasing.
Fifteen years ago, the SMART patrol system was rolled out within the sanctuary.
This reporting tool equips rangers with technology and information and has effectively suppressed all illegal activities that are harmful to wildlife and their habitats.
WCS provides important support to the government by using science-led actions such as these to strengthen interventions and monitoring in the Huai Kha Khaeng and Thung Yai wildlife sanctuaries.

Here, the dotted green lines show the potential trajectory of lions, tigers, and jaguars with WCS’s immediate and long-term conservation action.

BALANCING POPULATIONS Sharks are predators at the top of the marine food chain—they keep ecosystems stable by maintaining the natural balance of species.

BOLSTERING LOCAL ECONOMIES Sustainable shark and ray tourism can help local communities and funnel funds back into conservation.

CYCLING NUTRIENTS Sharks often eat and eliminate in different places, transferring nutrients across the ecosystem.

BENEFITING CORAL REEFS Sharks maintain food webs and fi sh stocks and regulate invasive species.

Sharks generally hunt larger predatory fi sh, which in turn controls these larger species’ predation of smaller reef fi sh.

Many of those smaller species graze algae, which helps keep coral clean and healthy, thereby supporting the entire ecosystem.

The scraps from their hunting create a food source for scavengers.

Connecting People to Nature Saving Sharks in Though often feared, sharks maintain healthy ecosystems and are among the world’s most threatened species groups: open-ocean sharks have declined over 70 percent in the last 50 years.

Building on decades of expertise, WCS’s new countries that are strongholds for sharks and rays.

Overfishing is the main threat, and WCS is working with communities to craft locally relevant approaches to sustainable fisheries that foster the recovery of sharks and rays.

This strategy dovetails with our longstanding efforts to support national governments in safeguarding their most biodiverse waters through marine protected areas.

XIAOXING: I grew up in Beijing, a completely urban girl.

But from the age of four, I loved observing any animal I could find, which usually meant beetles.

As I made my way through forestry school and then a master’s degree in wildlife ecology, I kept hearing about WCS, which has an iconic reputation in China.

People talked about WCS scientists like George Schaller, who since in the harshest, most remote parts of Tibet, doing fundamental science on species like chiru and wild ass.

They said if you want to work with the toughest, most hardcore field biologists, you need to join WCS.

For six years, I looked for snow leopards in the Chang Tang region of the Tibetan Plateau, where the average elevation is 5,000 meters.

Because snow leopards are so elusive, we set up across 5,000+ square kilometers—creating the highest altitude camera trap network in the world .

We ran into lots of fierce Tibetan brown bears and rutting wild male yaks—and fixed many flat tires.

It was the most fun I’ve ever had.

XIAOXING: China has snow leopard habitat, and half of that is on the Tibetan Plateau.

Though WCS helped protect the Chang Tang through the creation of one of the world’s largest reserves, the snow leopard’s habitat extends into heavily populated areas.

As humans move in, we see fewer animals and more conflicts.

We interviewed family members to brown bears or wild yaks.

We’re working to figure out ways for people and animals to co-exist safely.

The glaciers are melting so fast I could watch it happen out in the field: every six months they’d retreat another dozen meters.

XIAOXING: Our exchanges with local people were so moving.

Even those who’d suffered great losses would often say that they understood, the animals also have children to feed.

There are retaliatory killings, but many of these people are Buddhists who value all life and regard these animals as their siblings.

[marks] of a snow leopard, and the longer, clawed track of a wolf.

He showed us where to find blue sheep, snow leopards’ favorite prey, and the best locations for our cameras.

him how many cats are in the area, he said exactly what the cameras ended up showing.

We were so grateful to have him on our team.

Nothing can replace that kind of lifelong on-theground experience.

I also, just once, got to see a wild snow leopard.

I was with Dr. Schaller in Qinghai province when a colleague spotted a tiny cat head on a distant ridgetop.

For several minutes he stared at us and we stared back.

George was happy—he hadn’t seen one for several years—but not as happy as me.

I jumped like a rocket, ran up the mountain, and found super-fresh scat and tracks in the snow.

I could still feel the power and beauty of this predator, a king free in his kingdom.

With a WCS scholarship, I am writing my PhD at the University of Florida on human-snow leopard coexistence.

technology is helping WCS and others roll out additional protections.

For example, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issues requests for ship “slow downs” when the two WCS-WHOI monitoring buoys relay data on the presence of North Atlantic right whales, in order to safeguard the approximated remain.

Additional studies by WCS and colleagues found that humpback whales in this area produce intricate songs and social sounds, and may be present nearly year round.

Rapidly Changing Arctic With climate change and melting sea ice, the Arctic is changing rapidly and new areas are opening up Saving Whales with Smart Science To see a whale for the first time is astonishing: an impossibly large, air-breathing mammal is visible for a moment, then disappears into the ocean depths.

But the history of whales and humans is marked by exploitation as well as reverence.

With a moratorium on commercial whaling and increased conservation efforts, some whale populations are slowly recovering.

As forage fish and other prey species are becoming more abundant in certain areas—including in waters off New York—some whales are increasingly using these habitats to feed.

However, a range of new threats including ocean noise, ship strikes, and entanglement in fishing gear mean that we must remain vigilant.

Since the early whale research and monitoring around the world, leading to greater protection of important whale habitats.

Today, WCS scientists are gathering and analyzing essential scientific data to assess the impact of increased noise and shipping on whales and other marine mammals.

This work is especially urgent in the busy New York seascape and in the Arctic, where melting sea ice is clearing pathways for potential increases in shipping.

Safeguarding Whales in the New York Seascape Diverse marine life—including humpback whales, harbor porpoises, bottlenose and common dolphins, fin whales, minke whales, and even the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale—can be seen in the New York Bight.

And while these are encouraging signs, NY/NJ is also home to the largest port on the eastern seaboard. Ship-strike risk and unusual mortalities for some species are major concerns.

These are some of the reasons why WCS’s effort to better understand whales’ habitat use and migration patterns through the waters off New York is so important and why we use our science to strongly advocate for their protection.

Right Whale WCS’s acoustic work with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in the New York seascape detects four species in near-real time, and some of this WCS’s leading marine mammal research has won comprehensive protections and lasting results.

Whales and other marine mammals depend on sound to live; they can hear over great distances, using sound to locate prey in some instances, and communicate with each other.

In the Arctic—home to bowhead and beluga whales, walrus, seals, and many more—WCS has generated a first-ever baseline of acoustical data in a key habitat, the Bering Strait.

This science empowers us and our Alaska Native partners to promote more targeted protections for iconic Arctic marine mammals and provides a way to monitor changes in the ocean’s soundscape.

Building on work in the New York seascape and the Arctic, WCS is launching a new effort to quiet ocean noise in the Western Indian Ocean.

In New York, WCS science is informing best practices for marine wildlife in the context of planned offshore wind projects; we are committed to minimizing potential impacts on marine mammals—from siting, to construction, to operation.

All of these actions will advance our long-term vision for whales, dolphins, and other marine mammals to thrive throughout the world’s oceans.

Sub-Surface Float ABOVE When buoys detect critically endangered right whales in the New York Bight, just outside the harbor area, NOAA issues a “slow down” request for ships.

A new kiosk at the New York Aquarium displays recent detections—allowing visitors to know which whales are just off our shores in near-real time.

Emerging and re-emerging viral disease outbreaks impacting people and animals have risen sharply in recent years.

Many of these viruses, including influenza, West Nile, HIV, and now SARS-CoVwildlife.

The global public health and economic crises unleashed by this zoonotic-origin pandemic have shone a harsh spotlight on the far-reaching dangers of the increasing contact between people and wildlife through deforestation, and the harmful commercial trade in wildlife for human consumption.

The One Health approach that WCS has pioneered recognizes the strong links between human, animal, and environmental health.

Building on decades of scientific leadership on this issue, WCS is partnering with governments to secure crucial, permanent changes that will protect human health and well-being, economies, and security on a global scale, while also preventing the devastation of the world’s wildlife and wild places.

This section highlights WCS’s progress in banning the commercial trade in wildlife for human consumption, our efforts to help local communities detect and reduce transmission of deadly diseases such as Ebola, and our long track record of leadership in wildlife health.

Pangolins are among the most highly trafficked animals in the world.

When animals are taken from the wild and sold in urban centers, they can be conduits for viruses that jump from animals to humans.

WCS is using strong science, policy, and action on the ground to protect trafficked species while safeguarding human health.

Along wildlife trade supply chains, wild and domestic animals that would never normally come into close contact are packed together.

Stressful and unsanitary conditions increase the chances of “spillover events” where pathogens move between animal hosts, then jump to humans.

The end result can be zoonotic-origin diseases like COVID-other potential pandemics or epidemics.

Now is the time to secure permanent changes that will protect human health, economies, and security on a global scale, while also preventing the devastation of the world’s wildlife.

Evidence shows that species threatened by habitat loss or exploitation can transmit more zoonotic-origin diseases.

In response, WCS is advancing a science-based strategy to end commercial trade in live, wild birds and mammals for human consumption.

Advancing Reform at the National Level Drawing on our scientific, policy, and fieldbased expertise, WCS is working with governments around the world to decrease the risk of spillover events by supporting wildlife trade policy reform and strengthening counter-wildlife trafficking efforts.

In China: In January the rapid spread of COVID-19, WCS issued a statement pushing for urgent action from governments and societies to end the wildlife trade.

RIGHT/BELOW To prevent future outbreaks, WCS is working to stop the commercial trade in wildlife for human consumption, particularly of birds and mammals.

Our longstanding counter-wildlife trafficking efforts also protect at-risk animals such as the slow loris and African grey parrot, which are highly trafficked for the illegal pet trade.

Health and animal care experts from WCS’s zoos and from our field sites have worked closely with law enforcement agencies to rehabilitate and release many confiscated animals back into the wild.

It also finalized a new biosecurity law with key provisions on zoonotic-origin disease prevention and control aligned with WCS’s prior recommendations.

With this new legislation in place, China has significantly stepped up law enforcement, regulation, and inspections in conjunction with strong recommendations from WCS.

For example, in Guangdong province alone, authorities conducted inspections than the previous year: more than 660,000 of markets, 8.2 million of businesses, and 1.2 million of farms.

The government shut down markets, farms, and restaurants nationwide found to be illegally trading wildlife in the first few months after the national ban.

In Vietnam: In government prohibited the import of live wildlife, called for stronger enforcement of wildlife trafficking, and directed its ministries to review wildlife farming operations and penalties for wildlife consumption.

BELOW WCS trains rangers and other law enforcement officials across the globe in how to use technology such as the SMART patrol system to target poaching hotspots, dismantle illegal trade networks, and monitor wildlife health.

I assign daily activities to my assistant officers and staff.

I also support the wildlife research station, located inside the protected area, guiding the systems for our tiger population monitoring.

Strengthening the day-to-day team and training them to make sound decisions is very satisfying and has had a positive impact on our conservation objectives.

For the Thai people, the sanctuary is at the heart of the conservation movement.

It has become a model for protected areas in Thailand and other countries in Southeast Asia because of its protections for tigers and other endangered species.

Most importantly, the populations of tigers and other endangered wildlife have been increasing.

Fifteen years ago, the SMART patrol system was rolled out within the sanctuary.

This reporting tool equips rangers with technology and information and has effectively suppressed all illegal activities that are harmful to wildlife and their habitats.

WCS provides important support to the government by using science-led actions such as these to strengthen interventions and monitoring in the Huai Kha Khaeng and Thung Yai wildlife sanctuaries.