Whether you’re a scientist with data to share, a budding citizen science participant, or just someone who loves nature, you are invited to join the celebration. Take a walk in nature with family and friends, or go out into the backyard or neighborhood park. Wherever you go, look closely for the species that make that place their home, make an observation or two or a few using your phone, and submit your observations to the Half-Earth Project in honor of E.O. Wilson.
With science at its core and our transcendent moral obligation to the rest of life at its heart, the Half-Earth Project is working to conserve half the land and sea to safeguard the bulk of biodiversity, including ourselves.
How can we protect the wildlife and the wild places that remain? One of the foundations of conservation now being applied across the world began with the dreams of a young boy in Mobile, Alabama, and of all things, his love for ants.
“In order to realize a vision on the scale of Half-Earth, we need to mobilize virtually everybody on the planet.”
– Jack Dangermond, Esri founder and president
As habitats are reduced in size, the diversity within them declines to a mathematically predictable degree swiftly, often immediately and, for a large number, forever.
Humans Are Speeding Extinction and Altering the Natural World at an ‘Unprecedented’ Pace
E.O. Wilson Weighs In On Burying Beetles And The Desperate Need For Biodiversity
Nonhuman Life Should Be Central to Sustainability Problem-Solving
Save-the-date. Half-Earth Day 2019 will be held October 7 at the University of California, Berkeley. Half-Earth Day will feature a full day of programs followed by an evening event featuring a conversation with acclaimed biologist and naturalist E.O. Wilson, author of Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life.
Follow the Half-Earth Day 2019 page for details.
View highlights from Half-Earth Day 2018.
“Unless humanity learns a great deal more about global biodiversity and moves quickly to protect it, we will soon lose most of the species composing life on Earth.” – E.O. Wilson
Earth is a little-known planet. Scientists estimate that only 2 million of the planet’s 10 million species have been discovered. Using new technologies and assessment techniques, species discovery is accelerating.
The critical work to fill in the gaps in our knowledge must be done by more “boots on the ground,” a Linnean renaissance of species discovery and taxonomy work led by field biologists around the world.
By mapping the Earth’s species at fine-scale, and in relation to human activities, the Half-Earth Project is identifying and prioritizing the places we need to manage for conservation in order to safeguard the highest number of species. With the biodiversity of our planet mapped carefully and soon, the bulk of Earth’s species, including humans, can be saved.
At the center of this grand effort is the Half-Earth Project Map, a growing platform that answers the question: Where will conservation action protect the most species?
The Half-Earth Project Educator Ambassador program was created to provide a platform for teachers to engage each other and their students in the grand ambition of Half-Earth and to inspire and connect students with the natural world.
With the grand ambition of Half-Earth as a moonshot, we’re counting on Half-Earth Project Educator Ambassadors to lead the way, guiding their students to be our next generation stewards.
Half-Earth offers a solution to the global species extinction crisis that is commensurate with the magnitude of the problem: conserve half the Earth’s lands and seas in order to reverse the species extinction crisis, and ensure the long-term health of the planet.
Join Half-Earth!
On Half-Earth Day we celebrated E.O. Wilson’s grand Half-Earth ambition, showcased progress, engaged key stakeholders, and fielded questions from capacity crowds, while thousands more followed online. Momentum is growing for our planet’s “moonshot.”
Join us and stay up-to-date on progress toward this grand goal.
