Wildlife conservation and world politics

Abstract

The process of conserving nature involves inherently political questions. These are often neglected. Misunderstandings of the essence of politics are partly to blame. Politics is regarded as a term synonymous with the dirty tricks of the craft of persuasion. Science speaks with the voice of truth: all else is either commonsense or wilful obscurantism. Like the curate’s egg, this conviction is good in parts. Politicians are no angels. But oversimplifying the character of political processes, and disdaining to treat larger questions, can do conservation a disservice. Karl Deutsch has suggested that the fault is present in much environmental writing. ‘Many articles on the management of the environment seem to ignore politics. They appear to deal almost entirely with ecology, technology, resources and sometimes culture. Political processes and institutions are rarely mentioned directly and even more rarely analysed in detail. And yet, the substance of politics — decisions and commands, compliance and enforcement, demands and support, opposition or resistance, the allocation of values, costs and burdens — all this is inescapably implied in almost every ecosocial problem.’² For the conservationist to argue that nature is apolitical can be a useful strategy. For him actually to believe this is a recipe for ineffectiveness.

If you want to live and thrive

Let a spider run alive.

Children’s saying cited by the Opies¹