"Despite a century of conservation science, advocacy and education, extinction rates and habitat loss have increased greatly. Current extinction rates are about 1,000 times higher than estimated background rates,[6] leading some scientists to speak of ‘defaunation’[7] caused by humanity’s impact within a new geological era labelled the ‘anthropocene’.[8]
At the heart of the crisis within biodiversity conservation is a simple question which divides the global conservation movement: What gives nature its value? Is conservation’s raison d’être purely instrumental, preserving habitats and species because of the ‘ecosystem services’[9] they provide for human thriving, or can we speak of intrinsic or inherent values within species and ecosystems and, if so, on what are these values based?"
At the heart of the crisis within biodiversity conservation is a simple question which divides the global conservation movement: What gives nature its value? Is conservation’s raison d’être purely instrumental, preserving habitats and species because of the ‘ecosystem services’[9] they provide for human thriving, or can we speak of intrinsic or inherent values within species and ecosystems and, if so, on what are these values based?"
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