EVEN environmentalists do branding. They nurture iconic species that bring adoration and dollar donations in equal measure. Pandas, elephants and tigers get the lion's share - along with lions, of course.
Faceless ecosystems, which are arguably what really matter, are a harder PR exercise. That said, green campaigners cracked it with "rainforests" - an inspired rebranding of hateful jungles.
The problem comes when the lack of donor enthusiasm stymies the conservation priorities of NGOs. Selling the virtues of small, uncuddly creepy-crawlies is hard. So is selling the planet's "Cinderella" ecosystems.
Take the Paraguayan Chaco, a featureless thorn forest in one of the most extreme climates on Earth (see "Battle of the Chaco: Who will win the wilderness?"). You may not have heard of it, yet it is possibly as important as the neighbouring Amazon rainforest. And while decades of rebranding have helped slow Amazon deforestation, the ignored Chaco is disappearing ever faster. So: save the Chaco, Earth's forgotten Eden!
Meanwhile, many more endangered ecosystems need a makeover. Save the Cuatro Ciénegas valley, anyone?
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