The vast majority of the research on biodiversity conservation in Australia is funded by Australian taxpayers through Australia’s governments or Australian universities, with some scattered industry and international funds. Much of our research is used by agencies in other countries.
Don’t we have enough problems of our own? Why would we spend time writing papers about prioritising threatened species in New Zealand, optimal methods for surveying tigers in Sumatra and conservation investment in the coral triangle? There are at least four answers.
First, for everything we give away we get plenty back. Discovery research is just that, finding out new things or posing and solving problems that have never been solved before, anywhere in the world. If it is in the international peer-reviewed literature then, if the system is working, it is genuinely novel.
Furthermore, most of the ideas, discoveries and tools transcend continental boundaries and are useful to everyone. Tools and techniques for making decisions about prioritising actions and monitoring work anywhere.
Second, given Australian applied ecology is only about 5% of global applied ecology we get back about 20 times what we put in. By making our contribution we buy a seat at the cooperative venture of science – which includes sharing discoveries, people and ideas through many mechanisms...
