Now that story is ready to be told. And for better or worse, we are introducing to the world a completely new way of implementing and financing wildlife conservation. But why is this approach even necessary? Let me take you back to where this story begins—at IAS, where a meeting of minds confronted an urgent reality.

Orangutans, rhinos, tigers, sharks and even bees. What these random species have in common is population decline and pending extinction. They are the proverbial canaries in the coal mine of what is happening to wildlife on Spaceship Earth.

If orangutans, rhinos or tigers rapidly decline or go extinct, we know that we have a problem with unsustainable hunting and forest habitat loss. If sharks decline, there is an apparent problem of overharvest – probably for shark fins – or bycatch. And if bees decline, a lack of flowers, disease and an overload of insecticides likely play a role.

Noting these declining trends in species populations is one thing. Doing something to reverse them is quite a different challenge. Traditionally, this is where conservation organizations (or the governments) step in. They take care of these things, ask for your (tax) money, and promise to do their best to solve the problem.

Here is the catch though. After decades of trying to address conservation problems, traditional approaches have largely failed. After all, orangutans, rhinos, tigers, sharks and bees are still experiencing species decline.

In September 2023, after 30 years of tinkering with wildlife conservation, I came to IAS to explore how we could transform our approach into one more targeted and successful - some basic elements had to be met.

Firstly, we need a lot more people to care about and be involved in wildlife conservation. Secondly, we need a lot more money going into conservation to scale up its impacts. Thirdly, there is a need for much more transparency about how money is spent, on what, and what it has achieved.

IAS turned out to be a great place for me to critically assess and discuss these elements. For me, the key to getting much more effective conservation going is in getting more people excited about it.

Picture a subway train in Amsterdam with commuters on their way to work. Chances are, at least half of them are looking at their smartphones. I don’t have exact data on what they may be watching, but it’s safe to assume that most aren’t engrossed in a David Attenborough documentary about the sex life of the octopus—fascinating as that may be.

What we see here is a vast intersection of people, technology, money, and potential awareness—resources that could contribute to wildlife conservation but, for the most part, do not. Perhaps some of these commuters have transferred their annual 25 euros to a conservation organization, but they likely have little connection to, or understanding of, what that money does for orangutans on Borneo.

This could all be so much simpler and more effective. If someone cares about orangutans, why does that person not directly give their 25 euros, as a token of ‘please don’t do that’, to someone on Borneo with a blowpipe or chainsaw in their hands, ready to take a pot shot at the orangutan or cut down its tree?

And why do we not reward that donor by providing them with real-time information about how their 25 euros have helped to increase (or decrease) the orangutan population?

Why does it all need to be so complicated?

During my four months in IAS, I was able to brainstorm these ideas concerning citizen science; scalable, transparent and effective conservation approaches; and two-way information flow with a wide range of scientists and artists that had settled in its various burrows.

Importantly it resulted in meetings with people who appreciated these ideas and had connections to those willing to invest in innovative, high-risk, high-reward conservation experiments.

Now, 15 months later, that thinking, scientific writing, and discussion has secured substantial start-up funding to test new approaches to conservation. This includes scaling up an innovative citizen science program that Borneo Futures, our organization on Borneo, have piloted on a shoestring budget in four villages in Indonesian Borneo for the past two years.

With this funding, we can take scalable citizen science and real community-driven conservation into a new conceptual space, allowing us to test impacts on orangutans and other wildlife, and on the people who implement the wildlife management and monitoring.

The dream is to take the idea from four to ten villages, to twenty, to one hundred, and, ultimately, the 6,000 villages in Indonesian Borneo that have wild orangutans on their land. Simultaneously, we aim to tap into new forms of conservation finance that directly benefit wildlife and people, and, ideally, provide both a financial and conservation return on investment.

The sparks that ignited this journey originated at IAS, where minds converged to craft the next chapter of conservation. The fellowship provided the setting for the story’s climax—a space where ideas evolved through conversations and contemplation. What began as a simple plot has grown into a narrative of ambition and innovation.

Now, as the next chapter unfolds, we move forward with the hope that this new approach will drive meaningful change for wildlife, communities, and the future of conservation itself.

The fellowship enabled me to develop the following contributions

Maharani, N., Nardiyono, Munthe, C.R., Swayanuar, P., Ni’Matullah, S., Sueif, S., Zaini, S., Supriatna, J., Kusrini, M., Dennis, R., van Balen, B., van Strien, A., Meijaard, E., 2025. A novel citizen science-based wildlife monitoring and management tool for oil palm plantations. bioRxiv, 2025.2001.2012.632638.

Meijaard, E., Virah-Sawmy, M., Newing, H.S., Ingram, V., Holle, M.J.M., Pasmans, T., Omar, S., van den Hombergh, H., Unus, N., Fosch, A., Ferraz de Arruda, H., Allen, J., Tsagarakis, K., Chidozie Ogwu, M., Diaz Ismael, A., Hance, J., Moreno, Y., O'Keeffe, S., Slavin, J.L., Slingerland, M., Meijaard, E.M., Macfarlane, N.B.W., Jimenez, R., Abiguna, A., Wich, S., Sheil, D., 2024. Exploring the future of vegetable oils. Oil crop implications - Fats, forests, forecasts, and futures. IUCN and SNSB, Gland, Switzerland.