Rationale

The last three decades have marked the rise of conservation biology as a bona-fide scientific discipline. Beyond scientific enquiry, conservation biology is paramount for our ability to maintain global biodiversity and healthy ecosystems, for future generations. It is therefore central for delineating environmental policies and for responsible decision making at all levels - from the legislator to the park ranger. Originally, conservation biology dealt predominantly with ecological means of preserving small and declining populations of animals and plants, endangered due to human actions. However in recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the imperative role that human actions and attitudes at various levels have, not only in contributing to the problems, but also in any attempt at solving them. Alongside these, today we are much more aware of the many services natural ecosystems provide humans. Attempts are made to quantify and incorporate these services at all stages of initiatives for safeguarding biodiversity. Therefore conservation grew out of the confines of biology into a truly inter-disciplinary field - conservation science.
For these reasons (and others) we felt that it was paramount to establish a dedicated Israeli chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology.

As part of the chapter we aim to promote:

• Cementing conservation science as a unique scientific discipline, with dedicated scientists, practitioners, paradigms, tools etc.
• Serving to establish an Israeli community for interactions amongst people interested in conservation from diverse fields such as philosophy, economy, sociology, geography, anthropology, architecture and urban planning, law, mathematics, chemistry, biology etc.
• Presenting a platform for conservation practitioners working outside academia to present their work and ideas.
• Promoting active engagement of the public with science (for example through citizen science initiatives) and thus serve as a bridge between academia, conservation managers and the general public.
• Enabling fruitful scientific exchange of knowledge and ideas between local conservation biologists and leading international figures in the field.
• Creating an overall positive furor and enthusiasm for this highly important field, its prospects and challenges within the particular Israeli setting, to both established scientists and those joining the field.

History
The ISCB was established in 2012, and its first board members were: Dr. Simon Nemtzov, Mr. Noam Ben-Moshe, Dr. Linda Olsvig-Whittaker & Ms. Ya'arit Levitt-Barmats