I would like to add that while you can say the charismatic species provide conservation protection for lesser known and important species, not all lesser known and important species live in areas with megafauna or charismatic species to protect them, such as frogs in Costa Rica. These species are finding some neglect, such as the recent example of vaquita, who had little conservation action done for them until close to (or beyond) the point of no return. Yes the flagship species provide protection to lesser known species, but there needs to be some degree to which others get conservation efforts as well, since if we campaign too much for charismatic conservation, there will be several species that get left out. I agree that charismatic species are very important to protecting others, just voicing another side to this debate.
