BookDavid Johns.
Summary: Whilst the science of conservation biology is thriving as a discipline, ultimately global conservation is failing. Why, when the majority of people say they value nature and its protection? David Johns argues that the loss of species and healthy ecosystems is best understood as human imposition of a colonial relationship on the non-human world - one of exploitation and domination. Global institutions benefit from transforming nature into commodities, and conservation is a low priority. This book places political issues at the forefront, and tackles critical questions of conservation efficacy. It considers the role of effective influence on decision making, key policy changes to reduce human footprint, and the centrality of culture in mobilising support. It draws on political lessons from successful social movements, including human anti-colonial struggles, to provide conservation biologists and practitioners in scientific and social science disciplines and NGOs with the tools and wider context to accelerate their work's impact.
Contents:
The tragedy of political failure
Like it or not, politics is the solution
Getting the questions right
Ten questions for conservation politics
Adapting society to the wild
Striking at the roots: the burgeoning human footprint
Domination and the intractability of energy problems
Taking the offensive
Turning the tide: lessons from other movements and conservation history
Lessons from large scale conservation
Doing large-scale restoration
The other connectivity reaching beyond the choir
The special challenge of marine conservation
The biological sciences and conservation
Culture change
Conservation, george orwell and language
Restoring story and myth
Conservation moral imperative: the human obligation to the wild
Conclusion.