The tragedy of the nature photography commons.

Over the last few decades, photography has become a crucial tool in the mainstreaming of biodiversity and its conservation. Today, it would be almost impossible to find any conservation outreach or marketing materials that do not include at least a few photographs. This emphasis on photographic material is well justified, as there is evidence that photographs can have an important impact in our perceptions, attitudes and even behaviour towards nature (Kalof, Zammit-Lucia and Kelly 2011; Myers Jr., 2006). Examples of this are the efforts of the Sierra Club to establish some of the world�s first protected areas in the USA; National Geographic�s coverage of the �Megatransect� trek by ecologist Michael Fay across the Congo basin; or the recent media reports on the large scale killing of Amur Falcons in the of Nagaland, India (Dalvi and Sreenivasan, 2012; Myers Jr., 2006). Such encouraging outcomes have lead to the creation of the field of �conservation photography� and to the formation of organizations such as the International League of Conservation Photographers, who work specifically to disseminate the need for biodiversity conservation (Myers Jr., 2006).