The Path to Half: A Campaign to Protect All of Life

THE PATH TO HALF

A Campaign to Protect All of Life

DEAR FRIENDS,

I am proud to announce the leadership phase of our first capital campaign, The Path to Half, and share with you our statement of aspiration for how we are going to get there. I want to invite you to read it and consider how you can honor E.O. Wilson— Ed—and his legacy with a gift to seize the moment.

With the extinction crisis worsening and nearly 1 million species on Earth under threat, we must come together, across every sector, nation, and community, armed with the best available science and the inspiration to act. It is why the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation exists.

As the century’s most important biologist and a consummate storyteller, Ed felt that it was moonshot ambitions that allow our collective imagination to do something extraordinary. Based on decades of research demonstrating the need to conserve half of Earth’s land and seas for nature, we conceived of the Half-Earth Project , the core program of the Foundation, to bring the best scientific minds to bear on this urgent crisis. Let me tell you what we discovered.

We learned right away that not every place is equally effective at protecting biodiversity, and so we built an accessible tool to democratize this data in the Half-Earth Project Map. We learned countries needed to be able to monitor progress, so we built the Species Protection Index and National Report Cards to help track success. Now, we need your help to get this critical data into the hands of more communities and decision-makers worldwide, so they can better understand actions they need to take and need from others to achieve the goal of Half-Earth.

In the years since our research began, we learned that there are species going extinct without our having ever learned of their existence, and we need help identifying them. We learned that many of the best places to protect biodiversity also keep climate-altering carbon in the ground, and we need help making these wonderful co-benefits widely known. And we learned that more scientists should come from the world’s most biodiverse places, and we need help to support Indigenous emerging scientific leaders.

Ed’s passing in December 2021 led so many of you to reach out with stories, memories, and moments in your life that spoke to your love of nature and desire to protect it. And you told us you want to play a role. We have the solution, and now we need your help to scale it.

THIS IS OUR MOMENT—AND YOURS.

Very Best,

Paula J. Ehrlich, PhD

President & CEO, E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation Co-founder, Half-Earth Project

“WE ARE THE LAST GENERATION THAT WILL DETERMINE THE FUTURE OF WHAT LIFE ON EARTH WILL BE LIKE.”

JEFF CORWIN , WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST AND TV HOST, SPEAKING AT HALF-EARTH DAY

In September 1986, E.O. Wilson gave the opening address at the seminal convening of the National Forum on Biodiversity held in Washington, D.C. Hundreds of people attended the event, and thousands more listened in via teleconference. Newspapers like The New York Times and The Washington Post covered the proceedings, and for the first time, the term “biodiversity” was introduced into the collective vocabulary. People outside of science began to take note of the accelerated loss of species and their habitats. This was a crucial event for the movement to protect nature.

In the address, Dr. Wilson laid out how “biological diversity is being irreversibly lost through extinction caused by the destruction of natural habitats.” He made a plea for action and stated that “we are locked into a race. We must hurry to acquire the knowledge on which a wise policy of conservation and development can be based.”

More than three decades later, we are still locked in that race. The extinction crisis is in full throttle. Indiscriminate destruction of vital habitats, unchecked exploitation of

THIS IS OUR MOMENT

land and water resources, production of climate-warming gases, and use of pesticides are driving an all-out assault on life on Earth. But thanks to the work of Dr. Wilson and others, the solution is also at hand. We have the knowledge on which to base wise decisions for species and people, and we continue to add to that knowledge.

Now, it is up to us. We must act with urgency and in collaboration with each other.

We all know that we are at a pivotal moment for our planet’s health—the headlines make that clear. That is why the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation is embarking on a campaign for the Half-Earth Project to fuel the strategic growth of existing programs and build capacity for an important new phase of work to:

 Deepen scientific understanding of life on earth;

 Convene people and communities to reimagine our relationship with nature;

 Inspire action to leave no species behind.

If we want to maintain a livable Earth, we must not let up. With great intention, we must continue to advance the work of those who have come before us and support and engage the next generation of great minds working to protect our planet. Together, we can embrace the path to half and win this race. This is OUR moment.

P2: © BORNEO RIMBAWAN; P3: © JAMES BYRNE

E.O. Wilson’s Leadership and Legacy

Edward Osborne Wilson (1929–2021) is widely considered one of the greatest natural scientists of our time. He was a pioneer in efforts to preserve and protect the biodiversity of our planet, receiving more than 150 international awards, including Pulitzer Prizes for his books On Human Nature and The Ants

The concept of Half-Earth is rooted in research originally conceived by Drs. Wilson and Robert MacArthur in the 1950s. Their groundbreaking discovery, called the Theory of Island Biogeography, revealed that larger areas of habitat support a greater diversity of life in a mathematically predictable way. Some 70 years later, the theory has been borne out by a variety of studies in different environments and the basic principles of this theory still underpin the world’s understanding of the minimum areas of land and water that are needed for the bulk of species to survive.

Dr. Wilson spoke about the urgent need for broader research and understanding of life on our planet to protect key species and avoid unintended destruction

of the ecosystems that sustain us all. He said, “The earth is our home. Unless we preserve the rest of life, as a sacred duty, we will be endangering ourselves by destroying the home in which we evolved, and on which we completely depend.”

Dr. Wilson devoted his life to teaching us how to appreciate nature in its many forms. His unbridled curiosity about the world transformed the imaginations of countless students and budding naturalists. His recent passing affords a singular moment to carry the torch forward for biodiversity, making science and discovery relevant for new constituencies while recognizing the urgency of achieving bold conservation outcomes now.

Dr. Wilson’s legacy as a world leader in conservation and biodiversity protection persists through the work of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation and the Half-Earth Project and through the next generation, who are now taking the lead and moving us forward. Dr. Wilson did so much to help us understand the natural world. And now it is up to us.

COURTESY OF THE E.O. WILSON BIODIVERSITY FOUNDATION

THE BOLD VISION OF HALF-EARTH

The E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation developed the Half-Earth Project in response to the need for an ambitious solution to the extinction crisis. The goal of the Half-Earth Project is to sustain Earth’s biodiversity for future generations by conserving sufficient land and water to protect the bulk of biodiversity.

While 30x30—the global movement of communities, governments, and companies committed to protecting 30% of land and water by 2030—presents an unprecedented opportunity, science tells us we will need to do more to sustain Earth’s biodiversity for future generations. Science tells us we must conserve half—50%. At the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation and the Half-Earth Project, we are playing the long game, embracing 30x30 as an important step while also looking beyond it to a sustainable future for all species.

We are building the scientific basis to reach Half-Earth. We are paying close attention to the species and places most important for biodiversity conservation and to the perspectives of people in those places. We are cultivating many pathways to the outcomes we all agree are needed.

The Path to Half Campaign offers an opportunity to invest in each of these endeavors. We are on the path. Join us.

“THE ONLY HOPE FOR THE SPECIES STILL LIVING IS A HUMAN EFFORT COMMENSURATE WITH THE MAGNITUDE OF THE PROBLEM.”

E.O. WILSON , WRITING IN HALF-EARTH: OUR PLANET’S FIGHT FOR LIFE

A CENTER FOR DEEP UNDERSTANDING OF LIFE ON EARTH

In other sectors, like public health, vast investments in centralized data systems used by both public and private stakeholders ensure communities have the information to leverage the best solutions. Identifying viable remedies for global biodiversity conservation requires a similar centralized information hub that can be the basis for coordinated solutions. That is what the Half-Earth Project is creating.

Around the world, our science is identifying places that are most significant in terms of their abundance, richness, and rarity of life, as well as offering compelling opportunities for innovation in conservation. The Half-Earth Project and our partners are working to provide evidence-based, actionable information to local communities, governments, environmental organizations, and businesses. Our open access tools and technologies mean everyone can make conservation decisions using accurate data based in rigorous science.

The Half-Earth Project Map

If we are going to save species from extinction, we need a comprehensive atlas that maps Earth’s biodiversity and is accessible to everyone. Only then will we be able to make complex decisions about how to best preserve nature for all of life. With the international community

committing to ambitious conservation goals for 2030, a global resource to illuminate possible paths becomes even more imperative.

The Half-Earth Project is on a mission to map the location and distribution of the planet’s species at a high enough resolution to allow for on-the-ground decisions to be made at a local level. Together with our partners, we have developed the Half-Earth Project Map: a global assessment of biodiversity richness and rarity at 1–50 km. scale for all terrestrial and marine vertebrates and at 1 km. to countryscale for hundreds of thousands of invertebrate and plant species. No other public tool contains this level of global species data. Designed for a wide variety of users, the map is easy to read and manipulate and can be accessed by anyone in any community. Coupled with data showing human pressures, irrecoverable carbon, and existing protected areas, the map reveals priority areas for conservation. Unique features of the map are being adopted across the world.

© CURIOSO PHOTOGRAPHY

 The Species Protection Index measures the amount and location of currently protected land in a country and the number and location of species found both inside and outside of these protected areas. The Species Protection Index ranges from 0–100, with 100 reflecting a country practicing good stewardship and promoting equitable conservation efforts within its borders. Like a FICO score for biodiversity, the Species Protection Index is an important indicator for success that can be used to determine how a country is doing in any given area regarding global biodiversity stewardship and where additional attention is needed.

The Species Protection Index is essential for objectivity around progress, as well as for addressing the uneven pattern of conservation globally. Some places are global priorities for conservation, but ALL places

have a unique array of life to steward. The Species Protection Index demonstrates that in certain places, 30% of land and water protected will be enough to support the biosphere: in other places, even less will suffice. But overall, we need half.

 National Report Cards summarize a country’s conservation efforts. They can be used to explore conservation progress, needs, and challenges specific to each country and can help target support and resources accordingly.

In the next phase of map development, new technologies—such as sensor-based and cloud computation—will open entirely new avenues for visualizing what we know and predicting what we don’t yet know about biodiversity.

© MATTHEW CRAMBLETT ON UNSPLASH

MEMBER

“THE HALF-EARTH MAP COMBINES THE BEST OF OUR MAPPING TECHNOLOGY AND GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY DATA TO HELP US CHART A NEW PATH FORWARD FOR THE PLANET.”

DAWN WRIGHT, ESRI CHIEF SCIENTIST AND E.O. WILSON BIODIVERSITY FOUNDATION BOARD

The Link Between Biodiversity Conservation and Carbon Sequestration

Avenues to mitigate a rapidly changing climate are central to minimizing the impacts these changes have on humanity and biodiversity. Naturebased solutions, such as the storage of carbon in appropriately managed ecosystems, are key to reaching carbon mitigation targets specified under the Paris Climate Agreement.

A range of ecosystems contains ‘irrecoverable carbon’ that, once lost, is not recoverable within a time frame that avoids dangerous climate impacts. As new geographic data emerges locating important carbon sequestration areas, there is immense potential to join these metrics with biodiversity metrics and provide clear decision-support for a range of stakeholders, including businesses, agencies, governments, and local communities. The Half-Earth Project is creating tools that link carbon data with biodiversity data to locate priority areas for biodiversity conservation and those for carbon sequestration, and we are expanding the Species Protection Index to create a combined Species and Carbon Protection Index that addresses a location’s holistic climate mitigation and biodiversity value.

“This is reimagining the way species conservation is done. Finding opportunities where we can partner with other global efforts will improve our ability to protect species now and combat climate change, which threatens the quality of habitat,” said Walter Jetz, Scientific Chair of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation and professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and of the environment at Yale University. This is just the beginning. The Half-Earth Project is exploring more ways to link biodiversity and climate solutions to create an exponential impact.

Half-Earth Project Indicator Adopted by the Convention on Biological Diversity

The science of the Half-Earth Project is contributing to important conservation decisions in countries around the world. The 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP15) convened governments from around the world to agree to a new set of goals for nature by 2030. To equitably measure progress towards these goals, indicators had to be identified. One primary indicator was selected—the percent of area protected within a country—and two secondary indicators, including the Species Protection Index, developed by Scientific Chair Walter Jetz for the Half-Earth Project Map. The Species Protection Index measures not only land protected, but the species residing within that land. This is a significant victory for protecting the diversity of life found in unique ecosystems from Iceland to the Samoan Islands.

CASE STUDY

Half-Earth Project Helps DRC Community Protect

Itombwe Nature Reserve and Other Biodiversity Hotspots

The Half-Earth Project Map is supporting Volontaires des Pays des Grands Lacs (Friends of the Great Lakes Country) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo advocate for increased protection of the Itombwe mountains and rainforest. The group is using the map to demonstrate richness and abundance of species to inform community members about the unique species that live in the region and to make a case to the state government and international organizations for conservation assistance.

COURTESY OF VOLONTAIRES DES PAYS DES GRANDS LACS

“THOREAU SAID, ‘WHAT IN OTHER MEN IS RELIGION IS IN ME LOVE OF NATURE.’ OUR PROFOUND CONNECTION WITH NATURE IS THE INSPIRATIONAL SOUL OF THE HALF-EARTH PROJECT AND THE PATH TO HALF CAMPAIGN. LET’S JOIN THEM.”

DON HENLEY, CELEBRATED MUSICIAN , SONGWRITER AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE EAGLES, FOUNDER OF THE WALDEN WOODS PROJECT, AND LEAD CAMPAIGN DONOR

AN ALLIANCE FOR SPECIES, PLACES, AND PEOPLE

Science illuminates the where and the how, but that is just the starting point. Only people can put science into action. If we are going to make real change and reimagine our relationship to nature, we must collaborate with people in the places where they live and, together create enduring conservation outcomes. Through engagement with people in their communities, we can ensure science moves from the lab to the land.

Places for a Half-Earth Future: Working Alongside Local and Indigenous Communities

In the 20th century, a certain Western approach to protecting nature was honed: set aside land to preserve it. In many ways, this approach was successful, and places that matter to us today are still here because of it.

However, the 21st century is challenging us in ways that call for more creative and human-centered solutions, solutions not solely defined by their scale or their focus on capital. Global warming is making species and their habitats behave differently. Energy systems and agricultural development are converting land at rates that no traditional or single conservation approach could possibly address. Furthermore, conservation work in the past excluded groups of people with valuable knowledge about

lands and species and who often live within the areas most impacted. To support the survival of most species, we must realize a paradigm shift in conservation—to move from a chain of disconnected protected areas to a world where there is abundance for nature and people.

The Half-Earth Project has developed methods for identifying priority places for biodiversity conservation around the world. We call these Places for a Half-Earth Future: places that are high priorities for conservation because of their extraordinary species richness, abundance, and rarity. Community demand for a different kind of partnership in nurturing precious biodiversity resources is tremendous: from Bolivia to the Democratic Republic of Congo to Haiti to the Philippines to the Alabama River Basin. Building on our long history with Gorongosa National Park, and deeply cognizant of inherent limitations in longstanding conservation approaches, the Half-Earth Project will support engagement with and service to people who call these places home and ultimately have

P10: © SL PHOTOGRAPHY; P11: © SURIYA99

the most at stake. Of particular importance will be understanding the unique insights that empower communities, sharing those lessons more broadly, and ensuring benefits accrue to the people who depend on these resources.

Half-Earth Chairs and Scholars

The Half-Earth Project is championing research to better understand our world, nurture future biodiversity stewardship, and perpetuate conservation efforts worldwide. Scientists have counted almost 2 million distinct life forms;

however, that is a mere fraction of what is still waiting to be found. Without deeper knowledge of our planet’s biodiversity, we cannot halt the mass extinction of species.

By accelerating the effort to discover, describe, and conduct natural history studies for every one of the 10 million species estimated to exist, and investing in the people who call these places home, we can inform conservation efforts so they have maximum effect in protecting endangered species and ecosystems.

One of the ways the Half-Earth Project is making that happen is through its Chairs and Scholars program, which

enhances the best of biodiversity scholarship by supporting scientists around the world at different stages in their careers who are advancing knowledge and leadership.

 Chairs are selected for their research leadership and ability to be role models and mentors for the next generation of biodiversity researchers in their region and globally.

 Scholars are the next generation of biodiversity research leaders in developing countries who work with Chairs to advance their learning and research.

Chairs and Scholars bolster the Half-Earth goal by providing informed assessments of the unique socioeconomic needs and conservation priorities in landscapes of global importance, and, in turn, the Half-Earth Project contributes to their career advancement in the natural sciences. By working together, we are advancing the science—as well as the scientists—that will inform and create new solutions to biodiversity loss throughout the world.

Our inaugural Chairs and Scholars are in Mozambique. This campaign will fund the expansion of the program to Latin America, Asia and the Pacific, the U.S. and North America, Europe, and other sites in Africa. Chairs and Scholars will emerge as a global network of researchers giving voice, taking action, and contributing to the Half-Earth Project goals and mission while developing as a diverse cohort of conservation practitioners and natural scientists.

Half-Earth Research and Conservation Fellows

An effective foundation for sustainable conservation solutions requires local engagement. A new HalfEarth Fellows program is supporting remarkable scientists and communicators in developing economies who want to expand their expertise and learn new methodologies. Fellows engage in production, interpretation, and use of Half-Earth Project conservation tools in their region.

Supporting the Next Generation of Scientists

As a young woman, Norina Vicente of Tete, Mozambique, saw E.O. Wilson on TV talking about one of the planet’s most biodiverse areas, Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park, which was right there in her backyard. That program was part of her inspiration to become a scientist.

After earning her Bachelor of Science, Vicente received an internship at Gorongosa, where she participated in advanced seminars on bioinformatics and biodiversity survey methods. In 2018, she joined the Department of Scientific Services full-time as a research technician in the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Laboratory. In 2022, she became a Half-Earth Project Scholar and is now pursuing a Master of Science in San Francisco, with her research focused on the ants of Mozambique.

Vicente reminds us how nature and science can empower people, especially young women. At Half-Earth Day, she said, “if we have well-educated women with the same opportunity as men—not dependent on men,” then we can realize the full potential of community engagement in conservation. She noted that when a woman is educated and empowered, she can lift up her family and community.

Calling upon her experiences growing up in rural Mozambique and now as a part of the Half-Earth Project, Vicente is advancing her contributions to science while advocating for gender equity in decision making, science, education, and technology.

© Piotr Naskreck

AT LEFT: Dr. Ara Monadjem, Arcenia Chivale, Piotr Naskrecki, Josphine Mundava, Raul Chomela. © Courtesy of Gorongosa National Park

“CHANGING THE WORLD IS AN INHERENTLY SOCIAL ACTIVITY.”

DR. PAULA J. EHRLICH , PRESIDENT & CEO, E.O. WILSON BIODIVERSITY FOUNDATION, SPEAKING AT HALF-EARTH DAY

A CATALYST FOR MORE PATHWAYS TO HALF

The impact of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation and the Half-Earth Project ultimately will be measured by a long-term sea change in perspective and in the way we live our lives and steward our planet. The campaign will enable us to amplify the voices of and convene people working to solve the extinction crisis through policy engagement and communications, education programs, movement building, and inclusivity.

Policy Engagement in Support of Half-Earth

One of the Half-Earth Project’s greatest successes is inspiring the push for 30x30—the movement to protect 30% of land and water by 2030. In 2016, Dr. Wilson published Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life, an urgent call to preserve the biodiversity of our planet in which he laid out the scientific case for conserving half the Earth. This book, along with subsequent public appeals by Dr. Wilson and others, is a crucial part of the origin story of 30x30, and the science of the Half-Earth Project is informing its evidence base.

The movement of 30x30 has galvanized nonprofits, academics, communities, and nations. This is a pivotal moment for biodiversity, with President Biden’s America the Beautiful plan unfolding in the U.S. and other countries committing to aggressive conservation goals.

The Half-Earth Project is proud to have helped ignite this massive push to protect more places, and we are committed to supporting its successful implementation, contributing our science, voice, and broad connections in policy arenas. By providing tools like the Half-Earth Project Map and the Species Protection Index , we will engage with and provide the necessary means for decision makers to change the course of our relationship with nature. We will advocate for policies and practices at global, national, and local levels that will protect biodiversity and the stability of the food, water, and air we all depend on. The campaign will build on our past contributions of influence and science, from participation in the post-2020 UN Biodiversity Framework process to inputs into the American Conservation and Stewardship Atlas to a partnership with the Wildlands Network on “Saving America’s Biodiversity,” an advocacy event at the U.S. Capitol.

P14: © DAVID TROEGER ON UNSPLASH; P15: © STOCK STUDIOX

Communicating the Importance of Half

The Half-Earth Project is playing an important role in ensuring that once-in-a-generation conservation opportunities are considered in the context of a diverse and robust public conversation.

Places and Voices of America the Beautiful is a discussion series focused on areas of great biodiversity in the U.S. and the pathways and people essential to protecting them. A special objective of the series is to bring new voices into the 30x30 dialogue—that of Phillip Howard,

Advocacy in Action

who is championing preservation of sacred sites for Civil Rights history that are also laced with precious natural heritage; of Deja Perkins, an urban ecologist and advocate for equal access to nature; and of Joshua F. Walden from the Center for Heirs Property Preservation, which helps landowners retain rights while also generating economic benefits through conservation. These are but a few of the amazing voices we have been honored to help bring to the 30x30 table and on which campaign funds will help expand.

The Half-Earth Project motivated Representative Don Beyer (D-VA), author of the Wildlife Corridors Conservation Act, to introduce a resolution to Congress in support of Half-Earth in June 2022. Beyer shared, “My friend E.O. Wilson sadly passed away last year, but his life’s work—the protection of our planet’s biodiversity—lives on. This legislation honors and supports one of E.O.’s last great dreams: the protection of half of Earth’s lands and waters for the conservation of species. The global extinction crisis makes that work all the more important, and I will continue to work with colleagues and individuals and organizations committed to protecting our environment to advance this vital cause.”

© RALPH ALSWANG

Half-Earth Project Educator Ambassador Network

Half-Earth Project Educator Ambassadors are a robust network of teachers engaging youth in biodiversity science and conservation. The network includes U.S. classroom teachers across disciplines looking for ways to bring biodiversity and conservation into their curriculum—from science to the humanities to the arts—as well as non-formal educators with organizations such as nature centers. The program develops high-quality educational resources for teachers at levels from middle school to college. We aim to grow the network to thousands of teachers in all 50 states as well as expand beyond the classroom.

Half-Earth Day

Half-Earth Day gathers people from around the world and across disciplines to share their perspectives and thought leadership on how we can work together to ensure the health of our planet for future generations. Past participants have included influential voices like Paul Simon, Johan Rockström, Sir David Attenborough, Razan Al Mubarak, Sally Jewell, Cristián Samper, Tom Friedman, and Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim. Increasingly, the day has become a time for others to reflect on the state of biodiversity and celebrate Half-Earth Day through their own channels. The ethos is spreading.

It is a microcosm of what truly needs to happen to embrace a new cultural foundation on which human societies base market and policy decisions.

Expanding Nature Education in Urban Classrooms

Tamara Jolly is a high school science teacher in Baltimore, where she has worked for 13 years. As a Master Ambassador, she works closely with the Half-Earth Project to grow the network and guide curriculum development. In the classroom, she looks for any opportunity to infuse nature and the environment into her lessons. As a woman of color, she has experienced moments of being excluded from natural spaces firsthand. She now hopes to increase access and inclusivity of nature for traditionally marginalized communities, while also expanding nature education opportunities in urban classrooms.

COURTESY OF TAMARA JOLLY

© RALPH ALSWANG

EARTH SPEAKS IN DIVERSE WAYS TO

Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Biodiversity Conservation

We cannot reimagine how we care for our planet with only a fraction of its people. Communities that have historically been excluded from the conservation movement must have a seat at the table to share distinct perspectives and knowledge. In the opening session to Half-Earth Day 2021, Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, an Indigenous leader from the Mbororo pastoralist community in Chad and an expert in climate, noted that, “We are victims of the climate impact, yes, but we are also the solutions.”

The E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation is committed to being an organization that exhibits the same balance we are asking for between people and nature. We are building staff and volunteer leadership, partnerships, and a supporter base that reflect the complex world that is our shared home. The Path to Half Campaign offers a special opportunity to drive philanthropy in service of such equitable conservation approaches, cultivating and sustaining trust among diverse constituencies, from how we engage with Indigenous people to expanding career opportunities in the natural sciences for people from underrepresented groups.

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“MOTHER

BRING US ALL TOGETHER… WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ADVANCE DIVERSITY—AND ADD THE BIO TO IT?”

QUEEN QUET, CHIEFTESS OF THE GULLAH/GEECHEE NATION, SPEAKING AT HALF-EARTH DAY

JOIN US ON THE PATH TO HALF

In his forward to the proceedings of the National Forum on Biodiversity in 1986, Dr. Wilson called attention to an “urgent warning that we are rapidly altering and destroying the environments that have fostered the diversity of life forms for more than a billion years.” But he was also looking to the future and called on the building of “a new alliance between scientific, governmental, and commercial forces—one that can be expected to reshape the international conservation movement for decades to come.”

The global push for 30x30 speaks to the galvanizing of that alliance. But we need to go bigger. We need a movement that honors those who know how to live with nature, one that reminds those who have been forced to forget, a movement that speaks to the core connection with nature at the heart of all of us. This is the alliance that will protect enough land and water to preserve all of life. This ultimately will be the Path to Half.

We are on the cusp of a global shift. But now, it is up to us—a diverse array of communities, government and privatesector and faith leaders, philanthropists, scientists and teachers and students, citizens of the world. If we are going to win this race, we must take up the baton and be bold.

WE MUST COMMIT TOGETHER TO A JOURNEY THAT INCLUDES ALL OF US AND LEAVES NO SPECIES BEHIND. JOIN US.

“WHEN IT COMES TO PROTECTING ENDANGERED SPECIES AND ECOSYSTEMS, THE STAKES COULD NOT BE HIGHER … WE’RE GOING TO NEED SCIENTISTS, ACTIVISTS, EDUCATORS, AND PEOPLE EVERYWHERE TO PITCH IN TOGETHER LIKE NEVER BEFORE.”

PRESIDENT

BARACK

OBAMA IN A LETTER IN SUPPORT OF HALF-EARTH DAY

HALF-EARTH ISN’T JUST A GOAL; IT’S A COMMITMENT.

It’s a commitment—rooted in science—to understand, protect and steward our “little-known” planet. A number of forward-looking companies, foundations and individuals share that commitment and are lending their support financially and in other ways. Please consider joining them in helping us realize this bold and hopeful solution for our planet.

For more information: eowilsonfoundation.org

Amy Tidovsky half-earthproject.org

Vice President, Development 300 Blackwell Street

E. O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation Suite 102 atidovsky@eowilsonfoundation.org Durham, NC 27701