Cinema offers a substantial opportunity to share messages with a wide audience. However, there islittle research or evidence about the potential benefits and risks of cinema for conservation. Given their globalreach, cinematic representations could be important in raising awareness of conservation issues and speciesof concern, as well as encouraging greater audience engagement due to their heightened emotional impacton viewers. Yet there are also risks associated with increased exposure, including heightened visitor pressureto environmentally sensitive areas or changes to consumer demand for endangered species. Conservationistscan better understand and engage with the film industry by studying the impact of movies on audienceawareness and behavior, identifying measurable impacts on conservation outcomes, and engaging directlywith the movie industry, for example, in an advisory capacity. This improved understanding and engagementcan harness the industry’s potential to enhance the positive impacts of movies featuring species, sites, andissues of conservation concern and to mitigate any negative effects. A robust evidence base for evaluating andplanning these engagements, and for informing related policy and management decisions, needs to be built. Conservation Biology, Volume 32, No. 3, 597–606C2017 Society for Conservation Biology.
Considering connections between Hollywood and biodiversity conservation
