Priorities for Improving the Scientific Foundation of Conservation Policy in North America |
| |
| Authors: | REED F NOSS ERICA FLEISHMAN† DOMINICK A DELLASALA‡ JOHN M FITZGERALD§ MART R GROSS MARTIN B MAIN†† FIONA NAGLE‡‡ STACEY L O'MALLEY JON ROSALES§§ |
| |
| Institution: | University of Central Florida, Department of Biology, Orlando, FL 32816-2368, U.S.A., email;National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, 735 State Street, Suite 300, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, U.S.A.;National Center for Conservation Science &Policy, 84 Fourth Street, Ashland, OR 97520, U.S.A.;Society for Conservation Biology, 1017 O Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20001-4229, U.S.A.;Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, 25 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3B2;Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida IFAS, SW Florida Research &Education Center, 2686 SR 29 North, Immokalee, FL 34142, U.S.A.;Reef Check Foundation, California Program, P.O. Box 1057, 17575 Pacific Coast Highway, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272-1057, U.S.A.;Environmental Studies, St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY 13617, U.S.A. |
| |
| Abstract: | Abstract: The Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) can enhance conservation of biodiversity in North America by increasing its engagement in public policy. Toward this end, the North America Section of SCB is establishing partnerships with other professional organizations in order to speak more powerfully to decision makers and taking other actions—such as increasing interaction with chapters—geared to engage members more substantively in science-policy issues. Additionally, the section is developing a North American Biodiversity Blueprint, which spans the continental United States and Canada and is informed by natural and social science. This blueprint is intended to clarify the policy challenges for protecting continental biodiversity, to foster bilateral collaboration to resolve common problems, and to suggest rational alternative policies and practices that are more likely than current practices to sustain North America's natural heritage. Conservation scientists and practitioners can play a key role by drawing policy makers' attention to ultimate, as well as proximate, causes of biodiversity decline and to the ecological and economic consequences of not addressing these threats. |
| |
| Keywords: | biodiversity blueprint conservation policy North American conservation science-policy issues |
|
|
