Coral reefs are absent from national climate and biodiversity plans. WCS's Alfred DeGemmis and WWF's Rachel James,\explore why this gap matters and how collective action can still protect the world’s reefs for the website Together for the Ocean

There are many beautiful, charismatic, often iconic species subject to commercial trade that will be discussed and decided on at the upcoming CITES CoP in Samarkand—either due to proposals to increase or decrease protection; they include elephants, giraffes, okapis, hornbills, whale sharks, manta rays, and more. But WCS's Sue Lieberman asks us to "spare a thought for the less charismatic, funny looking, unpopular species. They need our protection as well—they are also threatened by trade, and they are just as important for their ecosystems."

Listing shark species under CITES Appendix II has helped to save some sharks from extinction. But as WCS policy consultant David Shiffman writes in a new commentary for Mongabay, some species are so threatened that they need to be listed on Appendix I, which bans all trade. New research has revealed that many fins belonging to sharks protected by Appendix II are still being sold in large numbers in Hong Kong, one of the biggest markets, supporting the need for action on Appendix I listings for some species at the upcoming CITES COP20 meeting. Governments meeting at COP20 in Uzbekistan should follow the science, support these proposals, and help save these sharks and rays

WCS is leading efforts to elevate wastewater and watershed pollution as a critical ocean and climate issue — bridging science, policy, and partnerships to drive collaborative change for our oceans and for the health of coastal communities. Here, the WCS Marine Program describes its recent efforts in Indonesia where ensuring clean water is critical to the health of coral reef ecosystems.

In an essay for Medium about the impact of pollution on water quality in the Solomon Islands, the WCS Global Marine program's Alec Hughes notes, "Water quality isn’t just a reef issue. It’s about human health, too.” Restoration activities, he adds, don’t just reduce erosion and sediment runoff. They can act as a natural filtration system for wastewater pollution in areas where sanitation improvements are difficult to achieve.

"As leaders from government, industry and civil society gather in Belém at the global climate conference," writes WCS's Stacy Jupiter and her colleagues Markus Knigge and Loreley Picourt, "it is critical to ensure that the ocean remains part of the conversation. "Even though the ocean generates over half of the planet’s oxygen and absorbs 30 percent of carbon dioxide emissions," they write, "there is an enormous financing gap to shore up these critical ecosystem services that regulate our climate."

Sharks and rays are some of the ocean’s most iconic species, but they are in crisis. At the upcoming CITES COP20 meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, say WCS's Luke Warwick and Dana Tricarico, governments will decide on dozens of proposals to regulate global trade in wildlife and wildlife products. That includes whether or not to give certain shark and ray species the highest level of international trade protections—a full ban.

"This National Bison Day," writes WCS's John Calvelli in an op-ed for National Bison Day in the New York Daily News, "look to the Bronx to remember the animal that sustained countless peoples, survived destruction, and still shapes the land we share. In its quiet power lies the best of who we have been and who we might yet become."

While it's true that extreme heat has driven the fourth global bleaching event since the 1980s and true that large amounts of live coral have now been lost, WCS's Emily Darling and Melissa Wright, Ocean Initiative lead at Bloomberg Philanthropies, argue that in the ocean, the line between life and death isn't so simple.

This summer, the Wildlife Conservation Society welcomed Adam Falk as its new president and CEO. Previously the president of Williams College and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Adam brings to his new role a deep commitment to science, a passion for education, and a belief in the power of collaboration. As WCS begins a new chapter, Adam sat down with Wild Audio to share his excitement for his new position and the opportunity to lead the Wildlife Conservation Society as it confronts the urgent conservation challenges of the moment.

Alaska's Kasegaluk Lagoon and the other NPR-A Special Areas are part of our collective trust and their stewardship our shared responsibility. In a new essay, WCS's Kayla Shively argues that "whether they endure for future generations will depend on what we choose to value and defend today."

"Belgium sits at the crossroads of international finance and sustainability," writes WCS's Arnaud Goessens in a new commentary for Forbes Belgium. Adds Arnaud, "Its financial sector — already a leader in responsible investing and green bonds — has the expertise to scale the next wave of solutions. Beyond today’s crises lies a powerful opportunity: innovative financial models that can redefine how we value and protect nature. To rise to the challenge, we must unlock private capital — and Belgium is well placed to help turn promising mechanisms into real impact."

Recognizing biodiversity protection as a core duty of care, health professionals must chart a path that safeguards the ecological foundations of health for present and future generations, write WCS’s Chris Walzer and his colleague Neil Vora in a new essay for Stat 10

"The urgency and scale of biodiversity loss leave no doubt that new conservation tools are needed," writes WCS's Liz Bennett in a new essay for Context. "Synthetic biology," she continues, "offers a growing number of sustainable and cost-effective applications to protect endangered species from the evolving threats they face. And it is already having an impact."

In a new commentary for Amazon Web Services, WCS's Emily Darling and Kim Fisher recall that when WCS launched MERMAID AI on World Oceans Day in June 2025, it marked the first time that benthic photo quadrat analysis could be done directly inside MERMAID. "Instead of importing photo annotations created in other platforms," they write, "users can now drag, drop, and use AI to classify photos seamlessly alongside their fish, bleaching, and habitat data."

WCS's Sue Lieberman joins NPR's "Short Wave" podcast to discuss the recent vote by members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to support the responsible use of synthetic biology for the protection of biodiversity while remaining vigilant to the possible unintended consequences of the growing technology. Notes Sue, "We're in the middle of a biodiversity crisis, we're in the middle of a climate change crisis, so I think we need to employ every tool we can to prevent further collapse of ecosystems."