Date: 06.05.2025
Beyond pandas: how broadening the flagship concept can help conservation capture more hearts — and save more nature
When one thinks about conservation symbols, things that typically come to mind are particular emblematic species—pandas, tigers, elephants, polar bears, dolphins, and the likes. Such iconic animals, referred to as flagship species, are widely used in conservation campaigns to capture public attention and mobilize support for conservation goals. However, a new study by an international team of researchers argues that the idea of conservation flagships can and should be much more diverse, by moving beyond flagship species to a wider range of flagship categories.
The study recently published in Biological Conservation (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111199) introduces an inclusive new concept called “flagship entity” — a term for anything that can serve as a symbol to inspire people to care about nature. “While a flagship entity certainly can be an animal”, explains Ivan Jarić, researcher from the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, and lead author of the study, “it can also be a forest, a coral reef, a ‘celebrity’ individual such as ‘Lonesome George’ the tortoise, or even a spectacular natural event like the massive flower blossoming, emergence of mayflies from a river, or migrations of monarch butterflies, as long as it helps people connect emotionally with a conservation goal.”
The study also provides a strategic roadmap for effectively selecting and using the right type of flagship for each unique audience and conservation goal. “We want to encourage conservationists to plan their campaigns more like marketers, and select their flagship based on public preferences and cultural values”, explains Diogo Veríssimo from the University of Oxford, another author of the study. “It is important to bear in mind that the most effective conservation flagships aren’t always the biggest, most colourful or famous animals. What matters more is how well they resonate with specific audiences.”
An overview of various flagship categories, with the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem used as an example: Grizzly 399 as a flagship individual – a female grizzly bear, considered the most famous bear in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, attracts huge attention and drives tourism; grizzly bears as a flagship species; large predators, here also including American black bear, wolf, and cougar, as a flagship fleet or flagship community; Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem and Yellowstone National Park as a flagship ecosystem or flagship protected area; the wildfire visible in the background represents a flagship event, while the Smokey Bear drawing on the panel sign represents a fictional flagship. Artwork: Snežana Leskovar and Irena Jarić.
One of the key recommendations of the study is that the choice of flagships shouldn’t be based on preconceptions of which flagships should work, but that their selection needs to match specific audience based on the use of marketing principles. Conservationists should plan well ahead and develop a meaningful branding strategy to promote a flagship to meet their goals. Furthermore, it is necessary to evaluate whether a chosen flagship actually leads to real-world impacts, by using different experimental methods and innovative approaches. Conservation campaigns based on flagships should also avoid some pitfalls such as unintentionally promoting unsustainable exploitation, wildlife trade, or excessive tourism and disturbance due to a popularity of the promoted flagship.
“With biodiversity loss threatening ecosystems around the world, it is crucial to rethink how we inspire public support”, suggests Sarah Crowley from the University of Exeter, another author of the study. “We also call for more research into what truly makes a conservation campaign effective — including subconscious audience preferences and economic impacts.”
Image: Examples of flagship categories. (a) Flagship individual: Lonesome George, a male Pinta Island tortoise, the last known individual of the subspecies that became widely known as the rarest creature in the world and a symbol of conservation efforts in the Galápagos Islands (photo: Mike Weston; CC BY 2.0); (b) Flagship species: the polar bear, arguably the most iconic symbol of the efforts to mitigate climate change (photo: Ansgar Walk; CC BY 2.5); (c) Flagship fleet: the six Danube sturgeon species, four extant and two extinct in the Danube River, are used as flagships by various conservation organizations; the two species shown here are the beluga (photo: Phyllis Rachler) and sterlet (photo: High Contrast; CC BY 3.0 DE); (d) Flagship ecosystem: the Amazon rainforest is one of the most well-known ecosystems and conservation icons worldwide (photo: Jay; CC BY 2.0); (e) Flagship event: the occurrence of massive flocks of several billions of nowadays extinct passenger pigeons continues to be used as a historic conservation flagship, especially for restoration and rewilding efforts, as well as for de-extinction initiatives (photo: Smith Bennett; public domain).
For more detailed information, check the article published in Biological Conservation:
Jarić, I., Crowley, S.L., Jeschke, J.M., Arbieu, U., de Oliveira Caetano, G.H., Correia, R.A., Kamdar, A., Ladle, R.J., Mammola, S., Roll, U. and Veríssimo, D. (2025). A unifying theoretical framework for conservation flagships. Biological Conservation 308, 111199
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2025.111199
Contact: Ivan Jarić, ivan.jaric@hbu.cas.cz
