Conservation Biology: Past and Present1

1 CHAPTER 1 Conservation biology: past and present1 Curt Meine Our job is to harmonize the increasing kit of tioners remain embedded within a process of scientific tools and the increasing recklessness in change that has challenged conservation “in the using them with the shrinking biotas to which old sense,” even while extending conservation’s they are applied. In the nature of things we are core commitment to the future of life, human and mediators and moderators, and unless we can non-human, on Earth. help rewrite the objectives of science we are pre- There is as yet no comprehensive history of destined to failure. conservation that allows us to understand the —Aldo Leopold (1940; 1991) causes and context of conservation biology’s emergence. Environmental ethicists and histor- Conservation in the old sense, of this or that ians have provided essential studies of particular resource in isolation from all other resources, is conservation ideas, disciplines, institutions, indi- not enough. Environmental conservation based viduals, ecosystems, landscapes, and resources. on ecological knowledge and social understand- Yet we still lack a broad, fully integrated account ing is required. of the dynamic coevolution of conservation sci- —Raymond Dasmann (1959) ence, philosophy, policy, and practice (Meine Conservation biology is a mission-driven disci- 2004). The rise of conservation biology marked a pline comprising both pure and applied science. new “rallying point” at the intersection of these ...We feel that conservation biology is a new domains; exactly how, when, and why it did so field, or at least a new rallying point for biologists are still questions awaiting exploration. wishing to pool their knowledge and techniques to solve problems. —Michael E. Soulé and Bruce A. Wilcox (1980) 1.1 Historical foundations of conservation biology Conservation biology, though rooted in older sci- Since conservation biology’s emergence, com- entific, professional, and philosophical traditions, mentary on (and in) the field has rightly empha- gained its contemporary definition only in the sized its departure from prior conservation mid-1980s. Anyone seeking to understand the science and practice. However, the main “thread” history and growth of conservation biology thus of the field—the description, explanation, appre- faces inherent challenges. The field has formed ciation, protection, and perpetuation of biological too recently to be viewed with historical detach- diversity can be traced much further back through ment, and the trends shaping it are still too fluid the historical tapestry of the biological sciences to be easily traced. Conservation biology’s practi- and the conservation movement (Mayr 1982; 1 Adapted from Meine, C., Soulé, M., and Noss, R. F. (2006). “A mission‐driven discipline”: the growth of conservation biology. Conservation Biology, 20, 631–651. 7 © Oxford University Press 2010. All rights reserved. For permissions please email: [email protected] Sodhi and Ehrlich: Conservation Biology for All. http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780199554249.do 8 CONSERVATION BIOLOGY FOR ALL McIntosh 1985; Grumbine 1996; Quammen 1996). tions of respect for the natural world both within That thread weaves through related themes and and beyond the Western experience (see Box 1.1 concepts in conservation, including wilderness and Chapter 14). Long before environmentalism protection, sustained yield, wildlife protection began to reshape “conservation in the old sense” and management, the diversity-stability hypoth- in the 1960s—prior even to the Progressive Era esis, ecological restoration, sustainability, and conservation movement of the early 1900s—the ecosystem health. By focusing on the thread itself, foundations of conservation biology were being conservation biology brought the theme of laid over the course of biology’s epic advances biological diversity to the fore. over the last four centuries. The “discovery of In so doing, conservation biology has recon- diversity” (to use Ernst Mayr’s phrase) was the nected conservation to deep sources in Western driving force behind the growth of biological natural history and science, and to cultural tradi- thought. “Hardly any aspect of life is more Box 1.1 Traditional ecological knowledge and biodiversity conservation Fikret Berkes Conservation biology is a discipline of Western James Bay, Quebec, Canada (see Box 1.1 science, but there are other traditions of Figure). In the Peruvian Andes, the centre of conservation in various parts of the world (see origin of the potato, the Quetchua people also Chapter 14). These traditions are based on maintain a mosaic of agricultural and natural local and indigenous knowledge and practice. areas as a biocultural heritage site with some Traditional ecological knowledge may be 1200 potato varieties, both cultivated and wild. defined as a cumulative body of knowledge, practice and belief, evolving by adaptive processes and handed down through generations by cultural transmission. It is experiential knowledge closely related to a way of life, multi‐generational, based on oral transmission rather than book learning, and hence different from science in a number of ways. Traditional knowledge does not always result in conservation, just as science does not always result in conservation. But there are a number of ways in which traditional knowledge and practice may lead to conservation outcomes. First, sacred groves and other sacred areas are protected through religious practice and Box 1.1 Figure Paakumshumwaau Biodiversity Reserve in James enforced by social rules. UNESCO’s (the United Bay, Quebec, Canada, established at the request of the Cree Nation Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural of Wemindji. Photograph by F. Berkes. Organization) World Heritage Sites network In some cases, high biodiversity is explainable includes many sacred sites, such as Machu in terms of traditional livelihood practices that Picchu in Peru. Second, many national parks maintain a diversity of varieties, species and have been established at the sites of former landscapes. For example, Oaxaca State in sacred areas, and are based on the legacy of Mexico exhibits high species richness despite traditional conservation. Alto Fragua Indiwasi the absence of official protected areas. This National Park in Colombia and Kaz Daglari may be attributed to the diversity of local and National Park in Turkey are examples. Third, indigenous practices resulting in multi‐ new protected areas are being established at functional cultural landscapes. In many parts of the request of indigenous peoples as a the world, agroforestry systems that rely on the safeguard against development. One example cultivation of a diversity of crops and trees is the Paakumshumwaau Biodiversity Reserve in together (as opposed to modern continues © Oxford University Press 2010. All rights reserved. For permissions please email: [email protected] 1 CONSERVATION BIOLOGY: PAST AND PRESENT 9 Box 1.1 (Continued) monocultures), seem to harbor high species The objective of formal protected areas richness. There are at least three mechanisms is biodiversity conservation, whereas that help conserve biodiversity in the use of traditional conservation is often practiced agroforestry and other traditional practices: for livelihood and cultural reasons. Making biodiversity conservation relevant to most of • Land use regimes that maintain forest the world requires bridging this gap, with an patches at different successional stages con- emphasis on sustainability, equity and a serve biodiversity because each stage repre- diversity of approaches. There is international sents a unique community. At the same time, interest in community‐conserved areas as a such land use contributes to continued ecosys- class of protected areas. Attention to time‐ tem renewal. tested practices of traditional conservation • The creation of patches, gaps and mosaics can help develop a pluralistic, more enhance biodiversity in a given area. In the inclusive definition of conservation, and study of landscape ecology, the principle is that build more robust constituencies for low and intermediate levels of disturbance conservation. often increase biodiversity, as compared to non‐disturbed areas. • Boundaries between ecological zones are characterized by high diversity, and the creation SUGGESTED READING of new edges (ecotones) by disturbance en- Berkes, F. (2008). Sacred ecology, 2nd edn. Routledge, hances biodiversity, but mostly of “edge‐loving” New York, NY. species. Overlaps and mixing of plant and ani- mal species produce dynamic landscapes. characteristic than its almost unlimited diversi- For example, Alfred Russel Wallace (1863) warned ty,” wrote Mayr (1982:133). “Indeed, there is against the “extinction of the numerous forms of life hardly any biological process or phenomenon which the progress of cultivation invariably en- where diversity is not involved.” tails” and urged his scientific colleagues to assume This “discovery” unfolded as colonialism, the the responsibility for stewardship that came with Industrial Revolution, human population growth, knowledge of diversity. expansion of capitalist and collectivist economies, The first edition of George Perkins Marsh’s and developing trade networks transformed Man and Nature appeared the following year. In human social, economic, political, and ecological his second chapter, “Transfer, Modification, and relationships ever more quickly and profoundly Extirpation of Vegetable and of

Load more