Believe it or not, there is no such thing as a ‘typical conservationist’! The sector is uber-diverse, meaning that salaries can vary widely. 

Salaries often depend on 1) conservation job type, 2) employer type, 3) region and 4) level.

Typically, the highest paying sector is the business sector, while the lowest paying sector is the charity sector. A common higher-paying job type is ecological consultancy.

However, these are just guidelines, and it is still very possible to earn a good wage in any conservation career.

Learn how to quickly, and easily start your career as a professional wildlife conservationist with our free video training series How to Get a Conservation Job.

If you’re a student, job-seeker or career-switcher you’ll learn the golden rule for getting started, the key mistakes to avoid, and answers to the ten most commonly asked questions.

There are lots of ways to learn conservation! It’s a diverse sector with 15 key job types, so we recommend first having a clear target job, in order to identify the skills, knowledge and experience you’ll need to succeed.

Our Conservation Training Board is a great place to explore training options – from short online courses through to master’s degrees.

Looking for hands-on experience or training? Our Conservation Experiences Board lists new conservation internships, volunteering and expeditions every day.

You might also want to check out the Top Conservation Scholarships for training, experiences and more. 

The short, definitive answer: YES!

So why does this question come up? The problem is that the harm we’re causing to the diversity of life on Earth is currently far greater than conservation efforts – so even though conservation efforts are working, they’re not enough and the overall global impact is still negative.

The bad news (you asked, so let’s get it over with!)

Our planet has been sending us warning signs for decades.

From 2002 to 2020 – less than two decades – we lost over 64 million hectares of tropical primary forest globally. That’s a 6.3% loss of total area of tropical primary forest.

Since human civilization began, the global number of trees has fallen by approximately 46%.

While forests once dominated the planet, today the world’s total forest area is about 4.06 billion hectares, or just 31% of the total land area. 

WWF’s trends in global biodiversity flagship report, The Living Planet Report 2020, shows that population sizes of global vertebrate species (mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish) have declined by an average of 68% in less than 50 years (1970 to 2016).

Wildlife populations in freshwater habitats have suffered even more – with freshwater population size declining by an average of 84% since 1970.

We’ve also reached record levels of climate change indicators – including atmospheric CO2, heat, loss of sea ice and permafrost warming.

Climate change is intensifying the rate of biodiversity loss, which is faster than at any time in human history and could see 500,000 to 1 million species become extinct in the coming decades if we continue down this path.

The good news (phew!):

It’s true that the challenges we’re up against are immense. But if conservation didn’t exist we’d be far worse off than we currently are.

Even though conservation can’t overcome the scale of challenges like biodiversity loss – yet – it is far better than taking no action.

Here are just a few examples of conservation success stories from around the world:

• The Red Kite. Perceived as ‘vermin’, accused of taking game and eventually targeted by taxidermists and egg collectors (once it became rare), this severely persecuted bird of prey suffered range reductions and population decreases through much of its world range. It eventually becoming extinct in several countries, including England and Scotland. Thanks to a re-introduction programme run by RSPB, Natural England and Scottish Natural Heritage, red kites have been re-established in several areas of England and Scotland, and their numbers in Britain rose 1026% from 1995-2014.
• California Condor. Only 27 of North America’s largest land bird remained in 1987, largely due to the accumulation of lead shot ingested from carcasses, plus insecticides, ingestion of glass and collisions with electricity pylons. Captive breeding and reintroductions have increased their wild population into the hundreds.
• Tigers. Having to compete with humans for space, numbers of this iconic species have declined for a century, due to habitat loss, poaching and killings. However, recent estimates suggest that there are 3,900 tigers in the wild, and that tiger populations are stable or increasing in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Russia and China. This encouraging results follow an ambitious effort by 13 countries to double the number of tigers in the wild by 2022 – ‘TX2’.
• Antarctic Blue Whale. Hunted for their oily blubber, this subspecies plummeted from an estimated 239,000 individuals prior to industrial whaling to just 360 individuals. Thanks to an international moratorium on whaling in 1986, the whales recovered to about 4,500 individuals by 2015, and their main threat now is climate change.
• The Mauritius Kestrel. Due to a combination of post-colonisation habitat loss, the introduction of non-native predators and the widespread use of insecticides for malaria and agriculture, only four of these raptors were alive in the wild in 1974. The Mauritius Kestrel narrowly escaped extinction thanks to innovative conservation efforts including captive breeding, and it’s population climbed into the hundreds.
• The Blue Iguana. Found only in the dry forests of Grand Cayman in the Caribbean, the Blue Iguana declined to only 30 individuals in the wild in 2001. By 2018, their population surpassed 1,000, thanks to the National Trust in the Cayman Islands.
• The Great Bear Rainforest. Part of the largest intact coastal temperate rainforest on Earth and home the elusive ‘spirit bear’, the Great Bear Rainforest received formal protection in 2016, following decades of campaigning by Greenpeace and other organisations. The Great Bear Rainforest Agreement permanently conserves 19 million acres of coast in partnership with First Nations people.

For more examples of conservation success stories, head over to Conservation Optimism, or explore what conservationists around the world are accomplishing in their careers, on our Careers Advice Blog.

You might also want to check out What Works in Conservation, a compilation of expert assessments of evidence for effective conservation actions.

What if conservation fails?

Like any other sector, conservationists are human. And they have to adapt to a constantly changing planet – not just physically, but politically, socially and economically. Conservation projects and initiatives aren’t perfect, and occasionally some may fail or fall short, as we learn and adapt.

The good news is that we’re getting better at sharing our experiences so we can learn from one another, and collaborate together towards shared goals.

What about unethical conservation organisations?

Sadly, there are some organisations out there that market themselves as achieving conservation, but don’t walk the talk.

Unfortunately all it takes is one ‘bad egg’ to taint the perception of many great conservation organisations doing excellent work. 

If you’ve come across an organisation that didn’t act ethically, we encourage you to share your experience with others, to help put pressure on the organisation to change. Most importantly, we encourage you not to let it taint your view of the conservation sector as a whole – or discourage you from engaging in all the great work that’s being done.

The bottom line

We have the solutions to tackle the biodiversity crisis, and just need the political and collective will to do so.

There are examples of incredible conservation success stories from all over the world – and YOU can create a positive impact for people and planet as a conservationist.

Focusing on conservation successes and celebrating our ‘wins’ can help keep motivation up and build momentum for greater success.

Wait a second…

We’ve explored what conservation is, but we haven’t asked if we should conserve wildlife in the first place. And if so, why?

Neither facts nor empirical science can answer these questions, so we need to turn to ethics and philosophy for answers about what the human relationship with wildlife should be.

Consider these examples:

• How many feral animals can we justifiably cull, to save the last remaining individuals of a native species?
• Should farmers in developing nations be allowed to practise slash-and-burn agriculture?
• Does a grassland restored after mining have the same value as the original, untouched grassland?
• Should we build a road to give 100s of people access to basic healthcare, if it’s likely to wipe out the last remaining population of an Endangered frog?
• Is some trophy hunting ethical if it has a net benefit for a species?
• If human overconsumption or destruction of natural resources is wrong, is it because of future generations, or do those resources simply have value in their own right?
• Should we hunt native waterfowl if they are becoming overpopulated or pests?
• Is conserving a species that can only survive in captivity the right thing to do?
• If farming rhinos and selling their horns is the best way to conserve rhinos, should we do it?
• What is ‘natural’, anyways?
• Is it always ethical to intervene?

As an applied science, conservation is about making decisions and taking action.

The examples above show that conservation decisions involve more than just facts. They usually have social, ethical and philosophical dimensions. 

They also show that different people can have different interests, and can assign different values to different things – for different reasons.

Conservationists need to be able to distinguish facts from values, and reflect on and carefully analyse values to take effective action.

Intrinsic vs. instrumental value

A key question in environmental ethics is: What kind of value does wildlife have? 

Intrinsic value means that wildlife has value in and of itself. Wildlife – for example species like vultures and mosquitoes – simply deserves to exist, without any other justification.

Utilitarian or instrumental value means that wildlife is valued for the benefits it provides to people. These are often referred to as ‘ecosystem services’, and include everything from wetlands that purify water and sequester carbon, to forests that provide economic resources and medicines, to recreational activities along coastlines, and cultural and educational values.

The ecosystems and species that deliver these benefits are often referred to as ‘natural capital’.

At Conservation Careers we believe that all wildlife is beautiful and that it deserves great conservationists working to protect it. 

We also recognise that natural capital and ecosystems services can be powerful tools to help different people and groups engage with and support conservation. For more on this, check out Environmental Economics & Ecosystem Assessment Conservation Jobs | Putting a value on nature.

That’s a tough one! 

There are many conservation degrees offered globally, and many funding options available, so getting a degree in conservation is very possible. Check out our Conservation Training Board to start exploring degree programmes or courses in your region! You can also search the Top Conservation Scholarships if you need financial support.

That said, any degree requires an investment of time and energy (and often money) to complete. Before investing in a degree, we recommend first having a clear target job, in order to identify the skills, knowledge and experience you’ll need to succeed. 

If you’re not sure where to start, check out our free video training How to Get a Conservation Job.