Reporting on nature is often about extinction, decline and loss. But this isn’t the full picture. The Lost and Found project brings to life tales of rediscovered species once thought gone forever. The determination and passion of conservationists has led them to rewrite history
Fast-talking Diogo Veríssimo is a conservation scientist with a love of great stories and happy endings. His first job was aged 17 as a guide at Lisbon zoo in his native Portugal, and Veríssimo has been exploring the relationship between people and wildlife ever since. Now a fellow at the University of Oxford, he researches ways to reduce demand for illegally traded wildlife: he knows only too well the great threats facing all sorts of species.
But in the global conversation about biodiversity, he decided, there is already enough doom and gloom. How can we inspire and empower people to care, he wondered, instead of frightening or guilt-tripping them into it?
Be informed. Be inspired.
“When I was a child, I read about a fish that we knew from fossil records had existed many millions of years ago,” Veríssimo says. “Then the actual animal was rediscovered. Reading that really captivated me: it felt like discovering that a dinosaur is still alive.”
It isn’t enough to convince people like him – professional conservationists – that the environment matters, he says. Everyone needs to get fired up. “That means not always bombarding people with despair, because they can only take so much before they disconnect,” Veríssimo has concluded. “These rediscovery stories are out there but they’re not easy to find. I wanted to create something that made them exciting and accessible to everyone.”
Lost and Found is the result. Launched at the Earth Optimism Summit in Washington DC in 2017, the website showcases flip cards (pictured), comics and…
