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		Nature Conservancy Magazine: Winter 2003 Nature Conservancy Magazine   Winter 2003 issue Tropical Rainforest Nature Books Nature Travel Nature Landmarks Natural Events Nature Preserves Subscribe to our magazine!

Just the Facts

By William Stolzenburg

Conserving the world's biodiversity is hard enough without misinformation getting in the way.

Once limited to gardens in the Northeast, purple loostrife now chokes wetlands across the country. © Leigh Ann Evans

Keeping up with the ecological state of our world can be taxing for even the most committed of conservationists. The airwaves and Op-Eds often breed misguided notions about nature and its preservation, and every time we turn around we find a new book, report or rumor contradicting the most basic of assumptions about where we stand. It's enough to make conservation-minded persons lose their bearings. Where do we go from here when no one seems to agree where we are?

To remedy this befuddling state of affairs, we asked Nature Conservancy scientists and land stewards to identify the false impressions that most often get in the way of their work. We offer here some of their most common informational hurdles—wrongheaded notions, half-truths, myths and misunderstandings—along with our attempts to dispel them.

Not all require gloomy corrections. Some aren't exactly wrong. But all, in their muddling of facts, serve to burden the business of preserving Earth's natural heritage.

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