Link to Youtube livestream - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UC17QyLJKZ8&feature=youtu.be&xembed=true

Wildlife on our planet is facing an enormous crisis. International bodies estimate that tens of thousands of species are at risk of extinction, and many groups and individuals across the world are working hard to protect them, and bring them back from the brink.

However, certain species have been more receiving of our attention than others. While the Giant Panda, the poster animal of conservation, has seen an increase in numbers over the last decade, the populations of other species have plummeted. Our discussion seeks to understand how this has come to be, and question whether we approach conservation in the best way?

What factors have typically led species to be considered deserving of our attention? Is it connection to humans and cultural value? Economic importance or ecological function? Do we, perhaps, simply favour animals that are cute? Our discussion will bring together experts in conservation science, ecology and economics to question the benefits and costs of how we have tackled the conservation of wildlife in the past, and what we can learn for the future

Chair - EJ Milner Gulland, Tasso Leventis Professor of Ecology, Oxford University

EJ Milner Gulland is a leading academic in the field of conservation ecology working in the University of Oxford, where she is the director of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Conservation Science. Her work considers how a range of factors, both ecological and social, affect conservation. She works with numerous conservation organisations including as a trustee for both WWF-UK and Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, and co-founded the Saiga Conservation Alliance for the protection of the Saiga Antelope.

Panel

Tony Juniper - Chair of Natural England

Tony Juniper has enjoyed a rich career as a campaigner, writer, adviser and communicator for conservation and environmental causes. Before his current role as the chair of Natural England he has worked as Executive Director for Advocacy and Campaigns at WWF-UK and as president of The Wildlife Trusts. He has also written the books What Has Nature Ever Done For Us? and The Ladybird Guide to Climate Change (co-written with Emily Shuckburgh and the Prince of Wales).

Claudia Gray - Conservation Science Manager, EDGE of Existence

Claudia Gray is a biodiversity conservation researcher and leads the conservation science program at EDGE of Existence, a global initiative focusing on the conservation of evolutionarily unique endangered species. This role sees her supervising the research EDGE supports and the underpinning science behind its conservation priorities. Her previous work has analysed the effect of protected areas for conservation and conservation strategies in palm oil cultivation landscapes.

Markku Oksanen - Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Eastern Finland

Markku Oksanen is an environmental philosopher whose work looks at environmental human rights, the rights of the natural world and the philosophy of issues in conservation science and climate change. He has previously been a member of the Animal Experiment Board in Finland and the Council on the Protection of Animals used for Scientific or Educational Purposes.

Kartik Shankar - Associate Professor at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science

Kartik Shankar leads a research group for community ecology and evolution, looking at biodiversity on ecological and evolutionary timescales. He is also a founding trustee of the Dashkin Foundation which focuses on issues in the social context that governs conservation issues. A passionate communicator, he has also established Current Conservation, an interdisciplinary magazine and written several books of children's fiction.