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Why Politics and Context Matter in Conservation Policy

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TLDR
In this paper, the authors argue that some of the approaches they promote may work in particular situations, but their proposal risks unintended and detrimental social and ecological consequences by presenting them as global solutions to complex political, economic, social and ethical problems that are context-dependent.
Abstract
Kareiva and Fuller (2016) consider the future prospects for biodiversity conservation in the face of the profound disruptions of the Anthropocene. They argue that more flexible and entrepreneurial approaches to conservation are needed. While some of the approaches they promote may work in particular situations, we believe their proposal risks unintended and detrimental social and ecological consequences by presenting them as global solutions to complex political, economic, social and ethical problems that are context-dependent. Here we argue that the authors inadequately considers the following core issues of biodiversity conservation, namely: (1) the structural causes of biodiversity depletion and the responsibilities of key actors; (2) the questions around what should be conserved, the processes by which biodiversity is valued, and who has the legitimate authority to value it; (3) the fact that new tools, technologies and innovative approaches are unsuitable as guiding principles to solve complex, context-dependent social-ecological problems; (4) the challenges of choosing relevant interventions, given experts’ limited ability to ‘manage for change and evolution’; and (5) the risks associated with promoting a utilitarian approach and a neoliberal governance model for conservation at the global scale.

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Journal ArticleDOI

Historical insights for understanding the emergence of community-based conservation in Kenya: international agendas, colonial legacies, and contested worldviews

TL;DR: A historical analysis of the governance framework from which CBC arose in the context of wildlife conservation in Kenya is presented in this paper, where over 60,000 square kilometers of land now falls under CBC.
DissertationDOI

Public policy for biodiversity conservation: evaluating outcomes, opportunities and risks

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors proposed a method to solve the problem of the problem.xvii and X.viii.xiv.x.v.vii.

Assessing biodiversity policy designs in Australia, France and Sweden. Comparative lessons for transformative governance of biodiversity?

TL;DR: In this article , the authors compared the policy designs of national biodiversity strategies in Australia, France and Sweden and identified elements in these strategies that can be used to inspire future ones: a negotiated framing of biodiversity and participatory processes in France, nested and integrated goals, targets and measures in Sweden, and an engagement with indigenous knowledge in Australia.
Journal ArticleDOI

The role of politics in the life of a conservation incentive: An analysis of agri-environment schemes in Hungary

TL;DR: In this article, the consequences of the cancellation of cash payments on farmers' maintenance of conservation activities and farmers' relations with conservation actors are investigated. And the authors demonstrate that withdrawal of conservation payments resulted in farmers cropping more intensively, with consequences for conservation agencies' relationships with farmers.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

Biodiversity: The ravages of guns, nets and bulldozers

TL;DR: An analysis of threat information gathered for more than 8,000 species revealed that overexploitation and agriculture are by far the biggest drivers of biodiversity decline.
Journal ArticleDOI

Biodiversity conservation: challenges beyond 2010.

TL;DR: It is argued that more radical changes are required that recognize biodiversity as a global public good, that integrate biodiversity conservation into policies and decision frameworks for resource production and consumption, and that focus on wider institutional and societal changes to enable more effective implementation of policy.
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