The Wildlife Conservation Research Unit

The planet’s human population increases by more than 200,000 people every day. At the same time, global consumption and inequality are rising. As a result, our planetary footprint is unsustainable, with ever more severe and intensifying pressure on finite natural resources throughout the world. The resulting environmental degradation, biodiversity loss and climate change destroys nature and impacts human well-being. The mission of the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) is to achieve practical solutions to conservation problems through original scientific research. Our research is used worldwide to advise environmental policy-makers. The need for our efforts is greater than ever.

Part of the University of Oxford’s Department of Biology, WildCRU is a pioneering, inter-disciplinary research unit in a world-class academic centre. We underpin solutions to conservation problems through primary scientific research of the highest calibre. Our approach is empirical, interdisciplinary and collaborative, seeking to include all four elements of our “Conservation Quartet” research to understand and address the problem; education to explain it; community involvement to ensure participation and acceptance; and implementation of long-term solutions.


Video narrated by Prof David Macdonald. Created by, and used with the kind permission of United for Wildlife: www.unitedforwildlife.org/

News

In loving memory of Meshach Pierre

24/09/2024

Last week we received dreadful news that our good friend Meshach Pierre had died in "his place in the world" - Guyana. Meshach was in the 2018 Diploma ... Read full story

Evaluating protected area location in Borneo

27/08/2024

Protected Areas are crucial for wildlife conservation - but their location is often influenced more by human expediency rather than biodiversity benefit. A new paper led by Ewan ... Read full story

Wildlife trade insights from patent analysis

07/08/2024

A new paper by WildCRU’s Amy Hinsley analyses 50 years of commercial wildlife-related patents related to rhinos, pangolins, horseshoe crabs, sturgeons, bears and caterpillar fungus ... Read full story

View all news »