"Healthy grasslands matter because they regulate water cycles, store carbon, support wildlife, and provide the foundation for the livelihoods and cultures of pastoral communities. Investing in healthy rangelands is therefore not only a conservation priority but also an investment in climate adaptation, food security, and sustainable development," observes WCS Mongolia's Sanjaa Bolortsetseg in an essay for PBS Nature timed to the coming UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) CoP17 this month in Ulaabaatar. "As governments, scientists, and practitioners gather in Mongolia" she writes, "my simple hope is that the people caring for these landscapes every day leave knowing their voices were heard, their knowledge respected, and their efforts supported."

"With my WCS colleagues, I am dedicated to protecting and conserving wildlife and wild places," writes WCS's Sue Lieberman in a new essay for PBS Nature as parties to the UN Convention on Desertification prepare for CoP17 in Mongolia this month. "To succeed," adds Sue, "policies must directly empower the permanent stewards of those places—particularly Indigenous and local women, park rangers, and local advocates. It is not only vital that women have a seat at the table, but that we women help design and build the table and are all fully empowered."

This month, governments from around the world are gathering in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia for the 17th Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD CoP17). While the meeting focuses on the growing threats of drought and land degradation, it's also an opportunity to draw attention to one of the planet's most important—and often overlooked—ecosystems. This week, WCS Wild Audio checked in with Sue Lieberman and Justine Shanti Alexander to get the lowdown on what's happening.

As the 17th conference of the parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD CoP17) approaches and the world marks the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, writes WCS Mongolia Country Director Justine Shani Alexander, Mongolia’s hosting of CoP17 provides a unique opportunity to showcase to the world how healthy, high integrity rangelands underpin wildlife, pastoral livelihoods, and climate resilience.

The Tropical Andes represents one of the world's most important ecosystems, spanning seven South American countries over 4,500 kilometers. They shelter extraordinary wildlife, provide water for millions, and help regulate the global climate. But they're under increasing threat. Wild Audio's Hannah Kaplan speaks to WCS Colombia's Dr. Germán Forero-Medina and WCS Peru's Dr. Mariana Montoya about why protecting this remarkable region matters for us all.

In a new op-ed for the New York Daily News, WCS's Dan Zarin argues, "Although the 2026 Canadian wildfires will likely be linked to the 'super' El-Niño we are entering, we are a large part of the problem. American carbon emissions per capita are nearly three times the global average and are increasing following a brief decline. If we continue to burn billions of tons of fossil carbon each year, we shouldn’t expect a different result. Plants took millions of years to remove that carbon from the Earth’s ancient atmosphere. We’re reversing that geological process in the blink of an eye."

On the Sunday, July 5 episode of the Animal Matters radio program, hosts Erin Clarke and Jeff Simmons dove into the waters to discuss sharks with expert Hans Walters, Animal Department Curator at the New York Aquarium and a field scientist with the Wildlife Conservation Society's New York Bight Field Program.

As part of PBS Nature’s recognition of LGBTQ+ Pride Month, WCS's BJ Siasoco and Noah Chesnin sat down to talk about the paths that brought them to conservation, the work they do today, and why building community is as important to conservation as protecting wildlife.

WCS herpetologist Steve Platt joins Marie McNeely to discuss his career and his recent work conserving Siamese crocodiles in Laos on the People Behind the Science podcast.

For World Oceans Month, WCS Wild Audio turned to coastal Patagonia on the Southern Cone of South America in a conversation with WCS Argentina's Valeria Falabella and WCS Chile's Montserrat Rodriguez. This biodiverse Patagonian seascape is home to some of the continent's most productive marine ecosystems. But climate change is beginning to reshape this remarkable region in ways scientists are only starting to understand. In this week’s episode, we look at an ambitious effort to help Patagonia adapt to an uncertain future.

WCS's Stacy Jupiter and Bloomberg Philanthropy's Melissa Wright highlight a new study showing that some reefs still have a meaningful chance to survive and recover from climate impacts – provided they are protected

For Mongabay, WCS's Chris Walzer describes how the recent outbreaks of Andes hantavirus and Bundibugyo ebolavirus "are not isolated biological accidents, but predictable consequences of the ecological, economic, and political systems we have built."

In a new essay in celebration of Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month for PBS Nature, WCS's Lishu Li writes of her work on the issue of counter wildlife trafficking (CWT), "In middle school, I read a long article describing how black bears were farmed for their bile, and how a free animal could be reduced to a body in a cage. I cried in the school reading room. Something had connected. That is where my conservation life truly began."

As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms media, journalists and conservationists are confronting a new and unsettling reality: What happens when we can no longer trust what we see in nature documentaries and wildlife photography? This week WCS Wild Audio's Hannah Kaplan speaks with Rhett Butler, Founder and CEO of Mongabay, about how AI-generated wildlife imagery is beginning to reshape conservation journalism, and why the stakes may be much higher than they first appear.

In a new essay for the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), WCS's Amelia Wenger and her colleague Jonathan Kelsey of the Bloomberg Ocean Fund argue that as governments and funders move from ambition to delivery, they must ensure that actions to expand ocean protection are matched by investments to reduce the external pressures that undermine it. We must use the full set of tools available, from MPAs to wastewater management, to address the pressures facing marine ecosystems.

"At the Prospect Park Zoo," writes WCS's Carol Yi for PBS Nature in celebration of Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, "I have had the chance to work with a diverse collection of animals—from miniature zebus ( a species of cattle) to Hamadryas baboons." She adds, "Understanding them requires empathy, patience, and observation—skills that I now carry into all of my relationships, both animal and human."