This week OceanEarth Foundation hosted a panel discussion for Threatened Species Day, exploring what it really means to take a transformational approach to species recovery. The conversation brought together four speakers working across landscapes, seascapes, and communities to try something different in a space that often feels stuck.
We didn’t gather to talk about doing more. We gathered to talk about doing things differently.
Why Transformational Conservation Matters
Too often, threatened species work focuses on managing symptoms – fences, breeding programs, recovery plans. These efforts are essential, but if they’re not paired with strategies to shift the deeper drivers of decline – land use, governance, funding models or cultural disconnection, then the outcomes rarely stick.
Our panelists – Simon Mustoe (Wildiaries & OceanEarth Foundation), Matt Singleton (Odonata Foundation), Tia Bool (Project Restore), and Marc Oremus (WWF France) – are challenging the traditional recovery model. Some work through community co-design, others through landscape scale thinking, complex social and transboundary social data, or multi-agency partnerships. What connected them all was a shared frustration with the current system and a commitment to doing better.
Lessons from the Panel
We opened the conversation with an age-old tension in conservation: species versus ecosystems. While single-species management can sometimes create silos, it can also be a powerful entry point for engaging communities and restoring ecological function – if the species is seen as part of a larger, interconnected system.
Matt and Simon highlighted how species like the Eastern Barred Bandicoot, which, when returned to the landscape, can help regenerate soil systems and reduce flood risk. Reminding us that species aren’t just symbols – they are agents of ecosystem repair. So maybe the species vs ecosystem conversation should also be asking, which species and why?
It became clear that it’s not species conservation itself that needs rethinking, but the structures we rely on to deliver it. Panelists shared frustrations about permit delays, short-term funding cycles that end just as projects begin to see results, and policy environments that often distrust or exclude community involvement.
- Tia spoke about nearly two years to get approvals in place for seagrass restoration in Sydney Harbour, taking upnearly two-thirds of the project’s original timeline.
- Marc highlighted the difficulty of connecting fragmented knowledge systems – tracking data, genetic samples and community insights – but no mechanism to bring them together at scale.
- Simon challenged the assumption that local communities can’t lead, urging us to shift from projects done “to” communities, to those co-created “with” them.
Rethinking Systems for Lasting Impact
One of the strongest themes was the need for long-term thinking, not just longer funding cycles, but space to adapt as ecosystems shift and recover in unexpected ways. As our facilitator, Jessica Leck reminded us, nature doesn’t follow our logic or our timelines. It evolves, experiments, and surprises us. to achieve lasting recovery, flexibility must be built into the way we design and deliver conservation.
When asked what enabled their work to take a different approach, the answers varied: visionary founders, structural collaboration, patient funders and persistent community pressure. There was, however, a clear thread. None of the projects we featured tried to change everything at once. They each started with what they could control, but with a broad enough lens to leave room for bigger systems to shift around them.
Perhaps the most powerful moment came near the end of the session. Marc was asked what allowed his team to shift how they approach sea turtle conservation across the Pacific. His answer was quietly honest:
“I’m not sure the shift has happened yet. But we know the old way hasn’t worked. And we are trying something different because we have to.”
That, in many ways, captured the spirit of the discussion. We’re not there yet. But we are moving. And if we want to get serious about saving species, we need to stop treating the symptoms and start designing systems that are capable of sustaining life, not just in the next funding cycle, but for the long haul. And for that to happen, we need to have honest conversations with the decision-makers designing the systems that are keeping us stuck.
Thank you to everyone who joined us live and to those who will catch up on the recording. If this conversation sparked something for you, keep it going. Share it. Question it. Build on it. And next time you’re writing a project proposal or advising on a recovery plan, ask not just what needs to be protected, but what needs to change.
Let’s keep rethinking, reimagining, and recovering together.
Watch the full panel discussion here.