Blogs

The internet is overwhelming — blogs, papers, portals, podcasts and more. Who has the time? Which sites are reliable and not ranting? And what does it have to do with conservation?

Well, a lot, according to Angus Parker, program director of WiserEarth and a former Conservancy staff member. Two years ago, Parker, could care less about the conservation conversation on the internet. He’s changed his tune.

Parker tells me that the traditional approach to conservation is changing. There is an increasing reliance on networking and information sharing with fewer people working on-the-ground. More and more practitioners are turning to social network sites, like WiserEarth, to share files, conduct project meetings and pull in data from hundreds of other organizations. It’s all about partnerships, he says.

The brainchild of environmentalist, entrepreneur and author Paul Hawken, WiserEarth is a collaboratively written, free content, open source networking platform that links NGOs, funders, business, government, students, organizers, academics, activists and scientists. (FYI - WISER stands for World Index for Social and Environmental Responsibility.) Just like Wikipedia, WiserEarth invites its users to create and edit content on the site. There's also an editors group who tracks what is on the site and checks the credibility of information. You can read more about the organization and its governing principles here. (Note: WiserEarth ex.director, Peggy Duvette, will present WiserEarth at the ConEx Tool Shed Room 1 at 2:00-2:30 on Tues., Oct.14 and 10:30-11:00 on Wed., Oct. 15)

More than 100,000 organizations and 17,000 people from across the globe have signed up—many of them partners of the Conservancy. Parker points out that WiserEarth can be especially useful for small groups without a website. It offers them a web presence to get their word out. An added benefit is that social networking sites like WiserEarth receive more web traffic than individual web pages resulting in more opportunities for visibility.  

Parker also points out that that science has an important place on these sites. We need to change old mindsets and behavior and use the internet to connect and work with stakeholders. We can openly discuss data and articles or information can be shared and vetted in “closed” private forums where and viewership is restricted. He also tells me that on WiserEarth documents can be uploaded, shared and edited in secure on-line place. (Is that an oxymoron?)

Internet sites like this are about engaging wider audiences and including more people in the conversation and communication. But for many of us it goes against our grain. They seem impersonal yet reveal the personal. How do you know someone is trustworthy? And how do you not get trapped into wasting time networking with those people that you have no interest in but they have every interest in you?

This is just the beginning of this conversation. I’ll explore more about this in other blog posts. For now, just know that there is that nagging little voice in the back of my brain says that I better pay attention...and change my mindset.  

NOTE: Angus Parker is one of the presenters at ConEx for the session Blogs, Wikis & Virtual Realities: New Media Tools for Conservationists. Tues.,Oct. 14 from 9:30-11am and Wed., Oct. 15 from 1:30-3pm.  He will also present the Conservation Pages at the Tool Shed on Wed. Oct. 15 from 10:24am – 10:39 am. If you haven't taken the survey for Blogs, Wikis & Virtual Realities, you can do so here.