Biodiversity Protection
From Envirowiki
Contents |
[edit] Origins and Purpose
Biodiversity protection rests on the idea that the world’s diverse ecosystems and the organisms within need preservation from the current threats of destruction. Biodiversity can be understood as the different levels of organization for earth’s life; specifically, the amount of complexity between individuals on three varying levels: species, genes and ecosystems[1].
The concept of protection of natural resources is not new, and the specific goal of biodiversity conservation has become an international concern throughout the 20th century. Many different methods have been conceived and utilized towards the goal of biodiversity conservation with many being as different as the region of the world they arise from. Concern for biodiversity and strategies for conservation have increased recently as the threats have become more imperative. Species destruction has become rampant as more habitats from all regions of the world are being converted to unsustainable land uses or being encroached upon for other reasons.
The conservation of biodiversity is necessary because these relationships are what support the functioning of life for humans and all other beings. Ecosystems and the complex relationships they support provide water, clean air, nutrient recycling, climate control, and maintain characteristics of the different landscapes of earth[2]. An international project undertaken by numerous experts from all scientific fields, named The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, was completed from 2001-2005 to determine the consequences of the alteration of ecosystems[3]. Because of the current disturbances to critical ecosystem functions and the threat of worse disturbances, biodiversity protection has become a prominent international goal.
[edit] Controversies and Perspectives Surrounding Biodiversity Protection
Since not only people from nearly every country but also animals and natural systems are all affected by the destruction of biodiversity, numerous controversies abound concerning how protection should be achieved and what areas or species should be conserved. There has also been a lot of controversy over whether protection of flora and fauna should be the main goal of biodiversity protection or whether human values and people’s reliance on nature should be included as well.
Science, in general, has emphasized how increasing human population and human-caused activities have been the cause of biodiversity loss[reference needed]. Science typically defines the problem of biodiversity loss in quantifiable terms of species lost or using indicators of the destruction of ecological integrity; these problems can be explained by directly connected activities that destroy species and environments such as human consumption of natural resources, agricultural expansion, urban expansion, and human-caused fire. In this perspective, broader social values or institutions are not thought of as relative reasons or causes for the biodiversity problem, so solutions involve addressing the more obvious causes of the problem. Technology and science is then thought of as the proper way to intervene and the probability of success is determined by thinking about potential environmental risks and not the broader social implications that might cause these[4].
The science of ecology studies the interactions of organisms both between individual species and their interactions with their environment, so it can take a broader perspective on biodiversity loss than other natural sciences such as chemistry. However, it can have a limited perspective for biodiversity loss because this science provides an explanation of how humans have affected natural systems but not the reasons why humans have caused an ecological crisis.
Conservation biology, conversely, incorporates both human values and institutions as well as biological and ecological understandings to solve biodiversity loss. Some of the main goals of the Society of Conservation Biology include extending and promoting the science of conservation of biological diversity, including understanding the human-related causes for loss, and how this information can be used to restore biodiversity levels through means such as policy and education[5]. However, this still emphasizes knowledge from scientific experts without acknowledging that other forms of knowledge, such as indigenous or native knowledge, can provide important explanations and solutions to the biodiversity crisis.
Another example of a way to determine knowledge and another perspective useful for biodiversity is indigenous understanding. Knowledge obtained from practiced traditions and understandings through many generations can help arrive at different alternative actions that have not been thought of or were previously discounted; experience in dealing with a particular region or environment is necessary to include in decisions concerning that region and indigenous knowledge can provide that.
[edit] Strategies towards Protection
Many policy based strategies have been utilized in both developing countries and industrialized Western countries; these have often included the above scientific understandings of biodiversity destruction. Policy at all levels – international, country-wide and local – can be helpful in achieving broad, long-reaching resolutions that can immediately set aside certain areas for protection. However, problems often arise when certain parties are negatively affected by legislation or environmental problems and their needs are not being addressed by the policy; this occurs because a specific law or act addresses one need such as the case with the US Environmental Species Act that protects only the species listed as ‘endangered’ and other species and ecosystems at risk that are not on the list lack protection. This act has also been contested numerous times because of the problems with protecting an individual species when human needs and development are concurrently threatened.
Many policies and strategies concerning biodiversity protection include economic evaluation and the use of economic knowledge to evaluate the success of projects. Cost benefit analysis (calculating dollar values of the costs and benefits for different actions as well as their potential risks) and other principles can be utilized when determining whether a project should be undertaken and how benefits from the project would be allocated.[6] However, benefit-cost analysis typically only accounts for quantifiable values, so important values of biodiversity such as the intrinsic worth of species or important ecosystem services like water cycles and nutrient cycles are often not included in calculations. In general, economics can also not account for moral values such as social justice, which can be an important consideration for biodiversity protection considering many people who rely more on natural resources or are affected more by environmental problems are those who often have low incomes.[7]
Other recent approaches have attempted to further incorporate the numerous perspectives of all stakeholders into the actual conservation strategy. In 1992, the UN Convention of Biodiversity was signed by 150 leaders from different countries with the goal of protecting ecosystems and their complex levels of biodiversity while empowering and promoting the surrounding communities. This key concept of sustainable development ties human progress with a healthy environment, and many methods have been developed throughout the world based on this important idea. When determining how exactly sustainable development can be achieved for a particular region, it would be helpful to utilize the different scientific perspectives and understandings listed above as well as the perspectives of those being affected. The needs of local people must be considered, especially those members or groups in society that are typically marginalized or not included in benefits or decision making. It is also important to determine who (external players such as NGOs, national government representatives/agencies) will be implementing the method and how. Fully understanding and incorporating these different perspectives into decisions made concerning biodiversity protection can be difficult to achieve. It is hard to unite the often competing differences in values and opinions between sciences, indigenous knowledge and other forms of understandings. This is the reason for the new interdisciplinary approach and study of the biodiversity crisis. This can only occur when groups of people representing these different fields and institutions of knowledge listen to each other and share information and experience. These interdisciplinary teams can combine ideas and knowledge to come up with a better, fully encompassing solution that best protects biodiversity. These teams hold much potential for actually tackling and finding a solution to the world-wide problem of biodiversity and ecosystem loss.
[edit] References
- ↑ Wilson, E. O.. The Future of Life. New York: Vintage Books, 2002.
- ↑ Speth, James Gustave. Red Sky at Morning. New Haven: Yale University, 2004.
- ↑ [[“Overview of the Milliennium Ecosystem Assessment.” Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. 2005. 13 Mar 2007 <http://www.maweb.org/en/About.aspx#2>.
- ↑ Bingham, Nick, Andrew blowers and Chris Belshaw, eds. Contested Environments. UK: The Open University, 2003.
- ↑ Society for Conservation Biology. 2005. 13 Mar 2007 [1]
- ↑ Bingham. Ibid.
- ↑ Speth. Ibid.
