From Cash to Conservation

Researchers at Griffith University of Australia have investigated the representation of native fauna on banknotes to identify geographic hotspots and taxonomic patterns, and determine whether threatened and endemic species were more readily represented.

The study – ‘From Cash to Conservation: Which Wildlife Species Appear on Banknotes’ – looked at 4,541 banknotes from 207 countries between 1980 and 2017. It was published in ‘People and Nature’.

The study found that:

• Native fauna were depicted on 15.2% of banknotes reviewed
• These represented 352 unique species with a strong bias towards terrestrial species (89%) 
• There was a dominance of bird and mammal species (83% combined)
• African banknotes had the highest mammal representation
• Birds were favoured in South America
• Globally, threatened species were commonly depicted on banknotes, with 30% of all imagery representing these species.

‘This study underscores the role that wildlife imagery on banknotes can play in shaping national identity and public perception of a country’s biodiversity’, said Associate Professor Guy Castley of Griffith University, adding that ‘by highlighting both the celebrated and threatened species, currencies around the world serve as a unique platform for promoting conservation awareness.’