The need for ecocentrism in biodiversity conservation |
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Authors: | Bron Taylor Guillaume Chapron Helen Kopnina Ewa Orlikowska Joe Gray John J. Piccolo |
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Affiliation: | 1. University of Florida, 107 Anderson Hall, PO Box 117410, Gainesville, FL, 32611–7410 U.S.A.;2. Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Riddarhyttan, 730 91 Sweden;3. International Business, The Hague University of Applied Sciences, Johanna Westerdijkplein 75, EN, Den Haag, 2521 the Netherlands;4. School for Forest Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Box 43, Skinnskatteberg, 739 21 Sweden;5. Global Ecocentric Network for Implementing Ecodemocracy, Fleetville, St Albans, AL1 U.K.;6. Institution for Environmental and Life Sciences, Karlstad University, Universitetsgatan 3, Karlstad, 65188 Sweden |
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Abstract: | Over the past 5 decades, scientists have been documenting negative anthropogenic environmental change, expressing increasing alarm, and urging dramatic socioecological transformation in response. A host of international meetings have been held, but the erosion of biological diversity continues to accelerate. Why, then, has no effective political action been taken? We contend that part of the answer may lie in the anthropocentric ethical premises and moral rhetoric typically deployed in the cause of conservation. We further argue that it is essential to advance moral arguments for biodiversity conservation that are not just based on perceived human interests but on ecocentric values, namely, convictions that species and ecosystems have value and interests that should be respected regardless of whether they serve human needs and aspirations. A broader array of moral rationales for biodiversity conservation, we conclude, would be more likely to lead to effective plans, adopted and enforced by governments, designed to conserve biological diversity. A good place to start in this regard would be to explicitly incorporate ecocentric values into the recommendations that will be made at the conclusion of the 15th meeting of the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, scheduled to be held in October 2020. |
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Keywords: | anthropocentrism biophilia Convention on Biological Diversity ethics IPBES justice nature needs half rights of nature worldviews antropocentrismo biofilia Convenio sobre la Diversidad Biológica derechos de la naturaleza ética IPBES justicia la naturaleza necesita la mitad visión del mundo 人类中心主义 亲自然性 伦理 正义 世界观 IPBES 生物多样性公约 自然需要半个地球 自然的权利 |
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