Are Corporate Partnerships the Future and Salvation of Amphibian Conservation Biology Research?

Stan A. Orchard

National Co-ordinator, WWF Australia/Rio Tinto Frogs Program, World Wide Fund for Nature Australia, GPO Box 528, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 2001

Email: sorchard@bigpond.com

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In the struggle for existence we amphibian biologists can sometimes find ourselves to be as environmentally repressed as any declining amphibian population. Our mission to investigate, understand and try to rectify the myriad conservation problems of amphibians relies not only on applying our wit and our will, we must also find the means. However securing the means, in terms of money and expertise - logistical necessities - can too often be the most elusive piece of the puzzle. Over the past decade, Canada has been singled out as a world standard at maintaining an effective national task force to delve into declining amphibian populations issues. These efforts have been largely reliant upon volunteerism from a cohesive network of highly dedicated scientists, conservationists and the general public. Funding has come almost exclusively from government, and has been unreliable, diminishing and often highly conditional. An additional difficulty has been a governmental trend in Canada towards the devaluation of natural history science, particularly at museums. Australia, on the other hand, has happened upon a corporate partnership from an unlikely source that puts substantial, unconditional, long-term funding directly into the hands of scientists and conservationists and creates a new and enviable model for the rest of the world.