The implications of mainstream economics for wildlife conservation
Dates
Year
2000
Citation
Hall, C.A.S. , Jones, P.W. , Donovan, T.M. , and Gibbs, J.P. , 2000, The implications of mainstream economics for wildlife conservation: v. 28, p. 16-25.
Summary
The most important problems facing wildlife conservation are the growing human population and its affluence, and the concomitant requirement for resources to accommodate this growth. A pressing question is how to maintain wildlife numbers and diversity when prime wildlife habitat is needed for agriculture, resource extraction, or urban expansion. Solutions to this problem may not be forthcoming because mainstream (generally meaning neoclassical) economic logic and policies are often in direct conflict with the goals of wildlife science. There is a great need for wildlife scientists to broaden their view and sophistication of economics and also to expand the wildlife field to encompass the larger social forces that are changing the [...]
Summary
The most important problems facing wildlife conservation are the growing human population and its affluence, and the concomitant requirement for resources to accommodate this growth. A pressing question is how to maintain wildlife numbers and diversity when prime wildlife habitat is needed for agriculture, resource extraction, or urban expansion. Solutions to this problem may not be forthcoming because mainstream (generally meaning neoclassical) economic logic and policies are often in direct conflict with the goals of wildlife science. There is a great need for wildlife scientists to broaden their view and sophistication of economics and also to expand the wildlife field to encompass the larger social forces that are changing the well-being of wildlife species. In what follows we elaborate on 1) what we perceive to be the underlying problem of wildlife conservation; 2) why our current system of economic valuation will, in the long term, undercut the goal of wildlife conservation; and 3) how to incorporate these concepts into wildlife curricula and the wildlife profession.
