Policy lessons from the 1%

Invertebrate concerns carry little weight when conservation resources are being distributed. The distribution of resources to conservation depends on decisions made at the political level. Every politician, and every phase of the media, depends on approval from some sector of public opinion. It is here that the invertebrates have carried a heavy handicap. To include invertebrates in policy development, more specialists from the invertebrate world must become activists, and 1. Seek a place on the committees that matter. 2. Get interested in the legal field. 3. Where possible, piggy-back invertebrates on existing major issues. 4. Get interested in what the plethora of government authorities in the field are achieving. 5. Become interested in threatening processes and ecological history. 6. Make up unique symbols to carry the conservation banner. 7. Use existing symbols and icons, such as national parks, the Great Barrier Reef or rainforests. 8. Seize all opportunities to influence public opinion. 9. Try to be in a position to add invertebrate issues to public reports, such as the State of Environment reports, and especially to any relating to land use decisions.