Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 April 2019 | 11(6): 13631
Building evidence for 20 years!
When Sally Walker and I started conducting Red Listing workshops in India in 1995, we were constantly stumped by the facts that there were not many taxonomists and not many publications in peer-reviewed journals to refer to. Very well attended, the workshops of 4–5 days each usually brought out the best in experts compiling information for long durations of the day and into the night. Information, in some instances, was from the experts’ field notes. In most cases, however, it was accumulated memory over the last few decades. This meant that the data were highly variable and awash with uncertainty.
We had many respected scientists tell us that the process really brought out the best observations from the fieldworks and that they never realized the data used in the assessments were important although they had observed them. Some confided that their intention to publish observations of species and habitats never materialized due to the lack of adequate support, lack of consistent journals within the country, and the lack of adequate grasp of the English language to communicate effectively as per the wishes of the expensive journals published from abroad. The combination of these with the unaffordability of accessing journals meant that many biologists in the region were devoid of literature to study, compare, and write about.
Zoos’ Print was a popular magazine by then and due to its regularity (published on 21st of every month) efficiently set up by Sally since 1985, we started receiving technical articles of the kind needed for species assessments. By 1999, we were spending time in getting the manuscripts reviewed for facts, which then prompted Sally and me to think of a peer-reviewed section within Zoos’ Print. So, we founded the Zoos’ Print Journal and I was the chief editor. A small step to tackle the problems of publications, we embarked on a mission quite blind and, as with most things we do at Zoo Outreach Organization, quite broke. That was a commitment we made and so our journey began with a 12-page pull-out in April 1999.
Nine years on we were riding an evidence-building high within South Asia. Requests for global coverage became very strong. Zoos’ Print Journal was being covered by Scopus and was available freely and widely. We took the next plunge—after a hiatus in 2008, we set up an independent publication with a title that did not confuse authors or readers as being restrictive—the Journal of Threatened Taxa was born. Known for its regularity, readers and authors now look forward to the 26th.
We’ve come a long way and have completed 20 years! This issue of JoTT marks the 21st year of publication and along with the milestone we continue to build evidence for conservation in more than 80 countries around the world on more than 60,000 species and ecosystems. This publication also marks the 250th issue.
On behalf of the co-founder Sally Walker and our small dedicated team in Wildlife Information Liaison Development (WILD) Society and Zoo Outreach Organization (Zooreach) of B. Ravichandran (Managing Editor), B.A. Daniel & Priyanka Iyer (Associate Editors), Vidya Mary George (Editorial Assistant), Latha Ravikumar (Web design and maintenance), Arul Jagadish (Typesetting), K. Geetha, S. Radhika, and Ravindran (Assistants), and other members of our editorial team from outside the organization, I thank you all for being a part of our growth and, most importantly, for helping in contributing to species and habitat conservation globally!
Sanjay Molur, PhD
Founder & Chief Editor, JoTT