Assoc. Prof. in Conservation Science @biology.ox.ac.uk
Advocate for Equity, Diversity & Inclusion.
2020 National Geographic Explorer.
🦇🏝️🦎🐈⬛ // @iccs.bsky.social
https://iccs.org.uk/author/ricardo-rocha/
Ricardo Rocha
"A captive “back breeding” programme began in 2017, for which 23 hybrid tortoises most closely related to the Floreana subspecies were chosen to recreate it as genetically close to the original as possible." www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...
Infrastructure for African mines destroying forests at 34 times the rate of the mines themselves
phys.org/news/2026-06...
Of course, the main problem that is holding back effective conservation is not the lack of evidence
It’s vested interests preventing the transformative change needed in the scale & ambition of conservation actions
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
Amazing time at the 35th LUOVA Spring Symposium held in Viikki @helsinki.fi, organised by PhD researchers. Grateful to this year’s keynote speakers @ricardonature.bsky.social, @profkathrynelmer.bsky.social, and Marco Gamba for their talks, insights, and engagement with the community of PhDs.
🔔 Applications are still open to join us an Associate Editor!
🐝 Pollinator ecology
🌊 Marine plants
🧬 Population genetics
⏳️ Phenology
🌱Plant-soil interactions & soil ecology
And more!
Follow the link for more info👉️ buff.ly/cIwdUMx
🦇 Bats matter to farming and the economy because they eat crop-damaging insects, reducing pesticide use and protecting harvests — helping farmers save money while supporting ecosystem health and food security.
Learn more:
"Researchers found no evidence that Indigenous People over-hunted birds to extinction. Instead, the authors suggest a new theory: the birds died out because of a combination of climate change, invasive species and changes in how the land was used"
phys.org/news/2026-01...
🦇 We are lucky to have 18 resident bat species in the UK and they make up almost a quarter of our British mammal species.
At the national scale, none of the 11 UK bat species we are able to monitor are declining but it is important to put things into context:
There are 1500 scientifically described bat species in the world, representing a huge diversity. Beyond providing sheer magical wonder, they also play a critical role in ecosystems. www.bats.org.uk/about-bats/w...
Some good news
Industrial-scale mining in Africa to support global supply chains is leading to unprecedented deforestation across the continent, with 34 hectares of forest removed for every single hectare of active ...
Globally, more than one million species are threatened with extinction, but often interventions intended to protect biodiversity are not rooted in robust research. The field has an opportunity to chan...
Journal of Ecology
Subspecies driven to extinction by hungry whalers returns after ‘back breeding’ programme using partial descendants
Challenging a 50-year-old narrative about Hawaiʻi's native birds, a new study from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa found no scientific evidence that Indigenous People hunted waterbird species to ex...
We are lucky to have 18 resident bat species in the UK and they make up almost a quarter of our British mammal species.Some bats are too rare or elusive...
Bats matter to farming and the economy because they eat crop-damaging insects, reducing pesticide use and protecting harvests — helping farmers save mon...
Bats matter across the UK and around the world. Bat species play a vital role in ecosystems, from agricultural land to tropical forests. They pollinate ...
