Abstract
In this essay, I build on the article by Soulé that established the foundation for the field of conservation biology. I analyze the presuppositions that have guided the discipline’s ethics in the 30 years since that article first appeared. I argue that conservation biology’s normative postulates introduced a paradigm shift that placed the diversity of the biota instead of the biota itself at the center of its ethics. I show that the ensuing priorities in the valuation of nature entail several contradictions at the ethical level and are justifiable only through scientific postulates. Identifying potential revisions and latent ideological issues in science, I defend the position that such scientific legitimization of conservation measures becomes disputable when this option undermines the ethical status of non-human life. Furthermore, I explain the absence of social feedback regarding conservation measures from the perspective of this shift. I conclude with an invitation to critically rethink the ethical basis of conservation sciences so that these fields may achieve their intention of playing a key role in halting the destruction of nature and in encouraging society’s support.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adams, W. M. (2004). Against extinction: the story of conservation. London: Earthscan.
Buijs, A. E., Arts, B. J. M., Elands, B. H. M., & Lengkeek, J. (2011). Beyond environmental frames: the social representation and cultural resonance of nature in conflicts over a Dutch woodland. Geoforum, 42(3), 329–341.
Buijs, A. E., & Elands, B. H. M. (2013). Does expertise matter? An in-depth understanding of people’s structure of thoughts on nature and its management implications. Biological Conservation 168, 184–191.
Callicott, J. B. (1990). Whither conservation ethics? Conservation Biological , 4(1), 15–20.
Chew, M. K., & Hamilton, A. L. (2011). The rise and fall of biotic nativeness. A historical perspective. Chapter four. In David M. Richardson (Ed.), Fifty years of invasion ecology: the legacy of Charles Elton (1st ed., pp. 35–47). London: Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
Dunn, R. R., Gavin, M. C., Sanchez, M. C., & Solomon, J. N. (2006). The pigeon paradox: dependence of global conservation on urban nature. Conservation Biological , 20, 1814–1816.
Fuller, R., & Irvine, K. N. (2010). Interactions between people and nature in urban environments. In K. Gaston (Ed.), Urban ecology (pp. 134–171). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jetz, W., Thomas, G. H., Joy, J. B., Redding, D. W., Hartmann, K., & Mooers, A. O. (2014). Global distribution and conservation of evolutionary distinctness in birds. Current Biology 24, 919–930.
Jones, O. (2000). (Un)ethical geographies of human—non-human relations: encounters, collectives and spaces. In P. Chris & W. Chris (Eds.), Animal spaces, beastly places: new geographies of human-animal relations (pp. 267–290). London: Routledge.
Leopold, A. (1949). A Sand County Almanac: and sketches here and there. New York: Oxford University Press.
Mace, G. M. (2014). Whose conservation? Science, 345(6204), 1558–1560.
Magurran, A. E. (2003). Measuring biological diversity. Hoboken: Blackwell Publishing.
Maris, V., & Béchet, A. (2010). From adaptive management to adjustive management: a pragmatic account of biodiversity values. Conservation Biology, 24(4), 966–973.
Miller, J. R. (2005). Biodiversity conservation and the extinction of experience. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 20, 430–434.
Muir, J. (1916). A thousand mile walk to the gulf. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Naess, A. (1973). The shallow and the deep, long-range ecology movement. Inquiry, 16, 95–100.
Ojeaa, E., & Loureirob, M. L. (2007). Altruistic, egoistic and biospheric values in willingness to pay (WTP) for wildlife. Ecological Economics, 63, 807–814.
Pyle, R. M. (2003). Nature matrix: reconnecting people with nature. Oryx, 37, 206–214.
Rémy, E., & Beck, C. (2008). Allochtone, autochtone, invasif: catégorisations animales et perception d’autrui. Politix, 2(82), 193–209.
Soulé, M. E. (1985). What is conservation biology? The biological diversity crisis. Bioscience, 35(11), 727–734.
Vucetich, J. A., Bruskotter, J. T., & Nelson, M. P. (2015). Evaluating whether nature’s intrinsic value is an axiom of or anathema to conservation Biology. Conservation Biology, 29(2), 321–332.
Wilson, E. O. (1984). Biophilia. Boston: Harvard University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Skandrani, Z. From “What is” to “What Should Become” Conservation Biology? Reflections on the Discipline’s Ethical Fundaments. J Agric Environ Ethics 29, 541–548 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-016-9608-9
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-016-9608-9