Conservation Values & Ethics Photo of Auguste Rodin’s “The Thinker” from Wikipedia.

Conservation Values &

Ethics

Photo of Auguste Rodin’s “The Thinker” from Wikipedia

Photo of Auguste Rodin’s “The Thinker” from Wikipedia

Ethics

The philosophy of morality, which is concerned with

what is right (good, legal, etc.) and wrong (bad, illegal, etc.)

Ethical principles constrain self-serving behavior in deference

to some other good

Photo of Auguste Rodin’s “The Thinker” from Wikipedia;Definition from The American Heritage Dictionary (1973)

Value

“Worth in usefulness or importance to the

possessor”

Map from pubs.usgs.gov; photo of grizzlies from Wikipedia

Instrumental Value

Value that Nature has as a means to another’s

(i.e., mankind’s) end

Anthropocentric viewpoint (i.e., from the perspective of

Homo sapiens as “possessor”)

Photos from Wikipedia

Value that Nature has as an end in itself

Biocentric or ecocentric viewpoint (i.e., from the perspective of Nature

as “possessor”)

E.g., biodiversity is valuable simply because it exists

E.g., non-human species

have rights

Intrinsic Value

Value

Instrumental

Intrinsic

- Material

- Non-material

Anthropocentric

Biocentric

Instrumental & Intrinsic Value

Photo from Wikipedia

Coined “conservation ethic”

Conservation Biologists / Environmentalistsin the U. S.

Gifford Pinchot (1865 – 1946)

First Chief of the U.S. Forest Service (1905 – 1910)

Resource Conservation EthicUtilitarian, anthropocentric “natural resource” philosophy;

“the greatest good of the greatest number for the longest time”

Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862) Walden (1854)

John Muir (1838 – 1914) Founded Sierra Club (1892)

Image of Emerson, photos of Thoreau and T. Roosevelt with Muir from Wikipedia


Romantic-Transcendental Conservation Ethic“Nature has uses other than human economic gain;” biophilia

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882) Nature (1836)

Photo from Oregon State University

Evolutionary-Ecological Land EthicArose together with the Modern Synthesis and maturing ecological theory; recognizes the complexity, interconnectedness (including

humans) and dynamism of Nature


Aldo Leopold (1887 – 1948)

A Sand County Almanac (1949)

I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crowd,A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees,Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the Milky Way, They stretch'd in never-ending lineAlong the margin of a bay: Ten thousand saw I at a glance,Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: A poet could not but be gay,In such a jocund company: I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thoughtWhat wealth the show to me had brought: For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood, They flash upon that inward eyeWhich is the bliss of solitude; And then my heart with pleasure fills,And dances with the daffodils.

William Wordsworth’s (1770-1850)

“Daffodils” (1804)

Photo of a field of daffodils in Cornwall, England from Wikipedia

Instrumental Value

Goods – food, fuel, fiber, medicine, etc.

Services – pollination, nutrient cycling, nitrogen fixation, decomposition, etc.

Information – genetic engineering, applied biology, basic science, etc.

Non-material Psycho-spiritual – (e.g., biophilia, as contrasted with biophobia) aesthetic beauty, religious awe,

scientific knowledge, etc.

Material…

Ecosystem goods & services illustrated with photos of wetland, pollinator & “decomposer” from Wikipedia

Instrumental Value

Daily et al. (1997, Science) provide this list ofecosystem goods & services:

Production of ecosystem goods (e.g., seafood, wild game, forage, timber, biomass fuels, natural fibers, many pharmaceuticals, precursors of industrial products); Purification of air & water;

Mitigation of droughts & floods; Generation & preservation of soils and renewal of their fertility; Detoxification & decomposition of wastes; Pollination of crops & natural vegetation; Dispersal of

seeds; Cycling & movement of nutrients; Control of the vast majority of potential agricultural pests; Maintenance of biodiversity; Protection of coastal shores from erosion by waves; Protection from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays; Partial stabilization of climate; Moderation of weather extremes

and their impacts; Provision of aesthetic beauty and intellectual stimulation that lift the human spirit…


Instrumental Value

Costanza et al. (1997, Nature) provide this list of ecosystem goods & services:

Gas regulation; Climate regulation; Disturbance regulation; Water regulation; Water supply; Erosion control & sediment retention; Soil formation; Nutrient cycling; Waste treatment;

Pollination; Biological control; Refugia; Food production; Raw materials; Genetic resources; Recreation; Cultural…


Costanza et al. (1997, Nature) provide this estimate for the value of these ecosystem goods & services:

~ $33,000,000,000,000 / yr

[…and the gross world product (the sum of all nations’ gross national products) is ~ $18,000,000,000,000 / yr]

Monetizing Instrumental Value of Nature


Monetizing Instrumental Value of Nature

Balmford et al. (2002) refined the estimate of Costanza et al. (1997) and concluded:

“We estimate that the overall benefit:cost ratio of an effective global program for the conservation of wild nature is at least 100:1”

Immanuel Kant(1724 – 1804)

German philosopher – among the most influential thinkers of the Enlightenment

“Everything has either a price or a dignity [intrinsic value]. Whatever

has a price can be replaced by something else as its equivalent; on the other hand, whatever is above all

price, and therefore admits of no equivalent, has a dignity”

Image from Wikipedia; quote from Kant (1785) Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals

Monetizing Instrumental Value of Nature…. Generally Ignores Intrinsic Value

Judeo-Christian Worldview

God apparently conferred intrinsic value on every living creature by pronouncing Creation to be “good” (see Judeo-Christian Bible: Genesis)

Images from Wikipedia

Religion-Based Conservation Ethics

Islamic Worldview

The Koran teaches that Allah (God) calls for man’s stewardship to provide a just distribution of natural resources across generations



Hindu Worldview

All beings are a manifestation of the one essential Being (Brahman), so human beings are to identify with & respect other forms of life



Jaina Worldview

Few adherents, but Jainism has great influence, especially in India

Parallel paths of asceticism (eschewing physical pleasure) and noninjury of all living things (ahimsa) free the soul from

future rebirth in the material realm



Buddhist Worldview

Regards other organisms as companions on the path to enlightenment (nirvana), through an explicit ethic of non-injury of and

boundless loving-kindness for all beings



Buddhist Worldview

The spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism is arguably the foremost conservationist among the world’s religious leaders

14th Dalai Lama(b. 1935)

“Our beautiful world is facing many crises....

It is not a time to pretend everything´s good”

Photo from Wikipedia


Why should we care?

Ehrlich & Wilson (1991, Science) provide their three-point answer…

Photo of P. R. Ehrlich from Stanford U.; photo of E. O. Wilson from Wikipedia

Human enterprise created the modernBiodiversity Crisis and threatens a vast array of

Ecosystem Services

1. Ethical & esthetic reasons (instrumental & intrinsic value)

E.g., would you rather live in a world with or without grizzly bears, orchids, and dragonflies?

E.g., do we humans have the right to drive species to extinction?

E.g., do we humans have the right to leave the world in worse shape for our children and grandchildren than it was in when we were born?

Why should we care?



Ecosystem Services

2. Potential for new discoveries (instrumental value)…in food science, the pharmaceutical industry,

and manufacturing owing to the vast riches of genetic biodiversity

3. The economic value of ecosystem services (instrumental value) (see Costanza et al. [1997] & Balmford et al. [2002])

Why should we care?



Ecosystem Services

“Mountaintop Mining”Stephen Colbert interview with Margaret Palmer

January 18, 2010

http://www.colbertnation.com/ coal-comfort-margaret-palmer

Valuing nature and assessing the reliability of sources

[please view for next time]…

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/261997/january-18-2010/coal-comfort---margaret-palmer

Conservation Values & Ethics Photo of Auguste Rodin’s “The Thinker” from Wikipedia.

Documents

Transcript of Conservation Values & Ethics Photo of Auguste Rodin’s “The Thinker” from Wikipedia.