Despite their enormous ecological values, new research reveals we don’t understand how most arachnid species are faring right now — or do much to protect them.
Spiders need our help, and we may need to overcome our biases and fears to make that happen.
“The feeling that people have towards spiders is not unique,” says Marco Isaia, an arachnologist and associate professor at the University of Turin in Italy. “Nightmares, anxieties and fears are very frequent reactions in ‘normal’ people,” he concedes.
Perhaps that’s why spiders remain under-represented across the world’s endangered-species conservation plans. Average people don’t think much about them, relatively few scientists study them, and conservation groups and governments don’t act enough to protect them.
We Need to Talk About Spider Conservation • The Revelator
Spiders need our help, and we may need to overcome our biases and fears to make that happen.
“The feeling that people have towards spiders is not unique,” says Marco Isaia, an arachnologist and associate professor at the University of Turin in Italy. “Nightmares, anxieties and fears are very frequent reactions in ‘normal’ people,” he concedes.
Perhaps that’s why spiders remain under-represented across the world’s endangered-species conservation plans. Average people don’t think much about them, relatively few scientists study them, and conservation groups and governments don’t act enough to protect them.
We Need to Talk About Spider Conservation • The Revelator
