Preservation v. Economic Development

Unit #8

Prof. Christopher L. Howard

Conservation

• Conservation is an ethic of resource use, allocation, and protection. Its primary focus is upon maintaining the health of the natural world: its, fisheries, habitats, and biological diversity. Secondary focus is on materials conservation and energy conservation, which are seen as important to protect the natural world. Those who follow the conservation ethic and, especially, those who advocate or work toward conservation goals are termed conservationists.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_(ethic)

Conservation Cont.• To conserve habitat in terrestrial ecoregions and stop deforestation is a goal widely

shared by many groups with a wide variety of motivations.•

To protect sea life from extinction due to overfishing is another commonly stated goal of conservation — ensuring that "some will be available for our children" to continue a way of life.

• The consumer conservation ethic is sometimes expressed by the four R's: " Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle," This social ethic primarily relates to local purchasing, moral purchasing, the sustained, and efficient use of renewable resources, the moderation of destructive use of finite resources, and the prevention of harm to common resources such as air and water quality, the natural functions of a living earth, and cultural values in a built environment.

• The principal value underlying most expressions of the conservation ethic is that the natural world has intrinsic and intangible worth along with utilitarian value — a view carried forward by the scientific conservation movement and some of the older Romantic schools of ecology movement.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_(ethic).

ConservationMovements

• More Utilitarian schools of conservation seek a proper valuation of local and global impacts of human activity upon nature in their effect upon human well being, now and to our posterity. How such values are assessed and exchanged among people determines the social, political, and personal restraints and imperatives by which conservation is practiced. This is a view common in the modern environmental movement.

• These movements have diverged but they have deep and common roots in the conservation movement.

• In the United States of America, the year 1864 saw the publication of two books which laid the foundation for Romantic and Utilitarian conservation traditions in America. The posthumous publication of Henry David Thoreau's Walden established the grandeur of unspoiled nature as a citadel to nourish the spirit of man. From George Perkins Marsh a very different book, Man and Nature, later subtitled "The Earth as Modified by Human Action", catalogued his observations of man exhausting and altering the land from which his sustenance derives

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_(ethic)

Habitat Conservation• Distinct trends exist regarding conservation development. While many countries'

efforts to preserve species and their habitats have been government-led, those in the North Western Europe tended to arise out of the middle-class and aristocratic interest in natural history, expressed at the level of the individual and the national, regional or local learned society. Thus countries like Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, etc. had what we would today term NGOs — in the shape of the RSPB, National Trust and County Naturalists' Trusts (dating back to 1889, 1895 and 1912 respectively) Natuurmonumenten, Provincial conservation Trusts for each Dutch province, Vogelbescherming, etc. — a long time before there were National Parks and National Nature Reserves. This in part reflects the absence of wilderness areas in heavily cultivated Europe, as well as a longstanding interest in laissez-faire government in some countries, like the UK, leaving it as no coincidence that John Muir, the British-born founder of the National Park movement (and hence of government-sponsored conservation) did his sterling work in the USA, where he was the motor force behind the establishment of such NPs as Yosemite and Yellowstone. Nowadays, officially more than 10 percent of the world is legally protected in some way or the other, and in practice private fundraising is insufficient to pay for the effective management of so much land with protective status.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_(ethic)

Habitat ConservationCont.

• Protected areas in developing countries, where probably as many as 70-80 percent of the species of the world live, still enjoy very little effective management and protection. Although some countries such as Mexico have non-profit civil organizations and land owners dedicated to protect vast private property, such is the case of Hacienda Chichen's Maya Jungle Reserve and Bird Refuge [3] in Chichen Itza, Yucatán. The Adopt A Ranger Foundation has calculated that worldwide about 140,000 rangers are needed for the protected areas in developing and transition countries. There are no data on how many rangers are employed at the moment, but probably less than half the protected areas in developing and transition countries have any rangers at all and those that have them are at least 50% short This means that there would be a worldwide ranger deficit of 105,000 rangers in the developing and transition countries.

• One of the world's foremost conservationists, Dr. Kenton Miller, stated about the importance of rangers: "The future of our ecosystem services and our heritage depends upon park rangers. With the rapidity at which the challenges to protected areas are both changing and increasing, there has never been more of a need for well prepared human capacity to manage. Park rangers are the backbone of park management. They are on the ground. They work on the front line with scientists, visitors, and members of local communities."

• Adopt A Ranger,[4] fears that the ranger deficit is the greatest single limiting factor in effectively conserving nature in 75% of the world. Currently, no conservation organization or western country or international organization addresses this problem. Adopt A Ranger has been incorporated to draw worldwide public attention to the most urgent problem that conservation is facing in developing and transition countries: protected areas without field staff. Very specifically, it will contribute to solving the problem by fund raising to finance rangers in the field. It will also help governments in developing and transition countries to assess realistic staffing needs and staffing strategies

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_(ethic)

National Parks• A national park is a reserve of natural or semi-natural land,

declared or owned by a government, set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, animal and environmental protection and restricted from most development. While ideas for national parks had been suggested previously, the first one established, in 1872, was the United States' Yellowstone National Park. An international organization, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and its World Commission on Protected Areas, has defined National Parks as its category II type of protected areas. The largest national park in the world meeting the IUCN definition is the Northeast Greenland National Park, which was established in 1974. According to the IUCN, there are about 7000 national parks worldwide (2010 figure).[3]

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_park

National Parks Cont.• A much-debated plan has established access, use and set guidelines for land designated for the Big Cypress National Preserve.• BY COREY W. CAMPBELL• Miami Herald Writer• Since 1988, decision makers have been trying to establish a plan for approximately 147,000 acres of land that has been been

designated for the Big Cypress National Preserve.• The plan for the addition lands is being scrutinized by sportsmen and conservation groups. The National Parks Service has

established a preferred plan establishing access, use and setting guidelines for which the land may be used and sets aside a portion of the land to be used as wilderness. This General Management Plan for the addition lands is in a no-action period and is set to be put into a record of decision, according to the superintendent of the preserve, Pedro Ramos.

• ``This plan is totally unacceptable to the hunters of South Florida we represent. It is too restrictive with regard to access,'' said Bill Juliachs, president of the Miami Chapter of the Safari Club. SCI is a group of hunters for conservation and hunting rights. The members of SCI are requesting an additional 90 days to make comments. Ramos stated that this was not a regular comment period, but he would except any comments and make them record.

• ``Comments can be e-mailed to me or sent in by mail,'' Ramos said.• On the other side of the argument, the Public Employees for Environmental Reform are claiming that there is not enough

wilderness and too much access.• ``Under [President] Bush, we never saw this type of blatant maneuvering to reduce park protections that we are seeing now at

Big Cypress,'' PEER executive director Jeff Ruch said. ``Adding insult to injury, [NPS] declared its ORV plan as the environmentally preferable alternative to the status quo where ORV are barred. In the 50-year history of wilderness review in the national park system there have been few, if any, examples of disqualifying eligible lands to accommodate motorized recreation, and certainly nothing of this magnitude.''

• ``The BCNP is a place that everybody loves. Some like to bike it, other go for bird-watching and there are the hunters, too. There are some that think there is too much access and others not enough. We are working with a public with a very diverse set of interest,'' Ramos said.

• The BCNP was established by law to allow for traditional uses such as hunting, trapping and off-road vehicle and recreation.• ``I believe that limiting access to these areas and the use of ORV completely goes against what these lands were intended for. I

am a born-and-raised Floridian that has been hunting most of the Big Cypress and the adjacent properties for the last 46 years,'' regional SCI representative Ivan Armengol said.

• The no-action period will end Monday, and the GMP is expected to be signed later in the month. •

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/01/02/1996943/national-parks-service-sets-plan.html##ixzz19zPGPVc8

Economic Development

• Economic development is the increase in the standard of living in a nation's population with sustained growth from a simple, low-income economy to a modern, high-income economy.[1][2] Also, if the local quality of life could be improved, economic development would be enhanced.[3] Its scope includes the process and policies by which a nation improves the economic, political, and social well-being of its people.[4]

• Gonçalo L Fonsesca at the New School for Social Research defines economic development as "the analysis of the economic development of nations."[5]

• The University of Iowa's Center for International Finance and Development states that:– "'Economic development' is a term that economists, politicians, and others have used frequently in the 20th century. The concept,

however, has been in existence in the West for centuries. Modernization, Westernization, and especially Industrialization are other terms people have used when discussing economic development. Although no one is sure when the concept originated, most people agree that development is closely bound up with the evolution of capitalism and the demise of feudalism."[6]

• The study of economic development by social scientists encompasses theories of the causes of industrial-economic modernization, the phases or waves of economic development historically used by economic developers, plus organizational and related aspects of enterprise development in modern societies. It embraces sociological research on business organization and enterprise development from a historical and comparative perspective; specific processes of the evolution (growth, modernization) of markets and management-employee relations; and culturally related cross-national similarities and differences in patterns of industrial organization in contemporary Western societies. On the subject of the nature and causes of the considerable variations that exist in levels of industrial-economic growth and performance internationally, it seeks answers to such questions as: "Why are levels of direct foreign investment and labour productivity significantly higher in some countries than in others?"[7]

• Mansell and Wehn state that development has been understood since the second World War to involve economic growth, increases in per capita income, and attainment of a standard of living equivalent to that of industrialized countries.[8][9]

• Economy Development can also be considered as a static theory that documents the state of economy at a certain time. According to Schumpeter (2003)[10] the changes in this equilibrium state to document in economic theory can only be caused by intervening factors coming from the outside

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_development

Sustainable Development

• Sustainable development does not focus solely on environmental issues.• In 1987, the United Nations released the Brundtland Report, which defines

sustainable development as 'development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.'[8]

• The United Nations 2005 World Summit Outcome Document refers to the "interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars" of sustainable development as economic development, social development, and environmental protection.[9]

• Indigenous peoples have argued, through various international forums such as the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the Convention on Biological Diversity, that there are four pillars of sustainable development, the fourth being cultural. The Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity (UNESCO, 2001) further elaborates the concept by stating that "...cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature”; it becomes “one of the roots of development understood not simply in terms of economic growth, but also as a means to achieve a more satisfactory intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual existence". In this vision, cultural diversity is the fourth policy area of sustainable development.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_development

Economic Sustainability

• Economic Sustainability: Agenda 21 clearly identified information, integration, and participation as key building blocks to help countries achieve development that recognises these interdependent pillars. It emphasises that in sustainable development everyone is a user and provider of information. It stresses the need to change from old sector-centred ways of doing business to new approaches that involve cross-sectoral co-ordination and the integration of environmental and social concerns into all development processes. Furthermore, Agenda 21 emphasises that broad public participation in decision making is a fundamental prerequisite for achieving sustainable development.[10]

• According to Hasna Vancock, sustainability is a process which tells of a development of all aspects of human life affecting sustenance. It means resolving the conflict between the various competing goals, and involves the simultaneous pursuit of economic prosperity, environmental quality and social equity famously known as three dimensions (triple bottom line) with the resultant vector being technology, hence it is a continually evolving process; the 'journey' (the process of achieving sustainability) is of course vitally important, but only as a means of getting to the destination (the desired future state). However, the 'destination' of sustainability is not a fixed place in the normal sense that we understand destination. Instead, it is a set of wishful characteristics of a future system.[11]

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_development

Endangered Species• An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at

risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has calculated the percentage of endangered species as 40 percent of all organisms based on the sample of species that have been evaluated through 2006.[2]

• Many nations have laws offering protection to conservation reliant species: for example, forbidding hunting, restricting land development or creating preserves.

• Only a few of the many species at risk of extinction actually make it to the lists and obtain legal protection like Pandas. Many more species become extinct, or potentially will become extinct, without gaining public notice.[citation needed

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endangered_species

Habitat Destruction• Habitat destruction is the process in which natural habitat is rendered

functionally unable to support the species present. In this process, the organisms which previously used the site are displaced or destroyed, reducing biodiversity[1]. Habitat destruction by human activity mainly for the purpose of harvesting natural resources for industry production and urbanization. Clearing habitats for agriculture is the principal cause of habitat destruction. Other important causes of habitat destruction include mining, logging, trawling and urban sprawl. Habitat destruction is currently ranked as the most important cause of species extinction worldwide.[2] It is a process of natural environmental change that may be caused by habitat fragmentation, geological processes, climate change[1] or by human activities such as the introduction of invasive species, ecosystem nutrient depletion and other human activities mentioned below.

• The terms "loss of habitat" and "habitat reduction" are also used in a wider sense including loss of habitat from other factors, such as water and noise pollution.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitat_destruction

Extinction• In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms (taxon),

normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the group (although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point). Because a species' potential range may be very large, determining this moment is difficult, and is usually done retrospectively. This difficulty leads to phenomena such as Lazarus taxa, where a species presumed extinct abruptly "re-appears" (typically in the fossil record) after a period of apparent absence.

• Through evolution, new species arise through the process of speciation—where new varieties of organisms arise and thrive when they are able to find and exploit an ecological niche—and species become extinct when they are no longer able to survive in changing conditions or against superior competition. A typical species becomes extinct within 10 million years of its first appearance,[2] although some species, called living fossils, survive virtually unchanged for hundreds of millions of years. Most extinctions occur naturally, without human intervention: it is estimated that 99.9% of all species that have ever existed are now extinct.[2][3]

• Mass extinctions are relatively rare events; however, isolated extinctions are quite common. Only recently have extinctions been recorded and scientists have become alarmed at the high rates of recent extinctions.[4] Most species that become extinct are never scientifically documented. Some scientists estimate that up to half of presently existing species may become extinct by 2100.[5]

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extinction

Endangered SpeciesCont.

• In 1986, a worried environmentalist group petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the owl as an "endangered species," a move that would bar the timber industry from clearing these lands. In June 1990, after years of heated negotiation and litigation between the government, environmentalists, and the timber industry, the northern spotted owl was declared a threatened species. Under this provision, timber companies are required to leave at least 40% of the old-growth forests intact within a 1.3 mile radius of any spotted owl nest or activity site, a provision that is vehemently opposed by the timber industry. Industry representatives claim that the measure will leave thousands of Northwest loggers and mill workers jobless, and insist that such protectionist policies thoughtlessly fail to take into account the dire economic consequences of preservation. Environmentalists, on the other hand, argue that society has a fundamental obligation to preserve this rare species and the wilderness it inhabits.

• The controversy over the northern spotted owl follows on the heels of debates over dolphins, whales, snail darters, and desert tortoises, each raising questions concerning society's obligation to protect animals threatened by extinction. In the case of the spotted owl, we must ask whether and to what extent preserving endangered species and the wilderness they inhabit should take precedence over other considerations, such as major economic dislocations.

Spotted Owl• Ethics and the Spotted Owl Controversy • By Claire Andre and Manuel Velasquez • For hundreds of years, a handsome, dark-brown owl with white spots has made its home in the lush, "old-growth" forests of the Pacific Northwest.

Under the multilayered canopies of these 200-year-old forests, the owl, known as the northern spotted owl, has fed off the rich plant and invertebrate life created by decaying timber and has nested in the cavities of old trunks. But the towering cedars, firs, hemlocks, and spruces which have served as the owl's habitat, also have become a primary source of timber for a multi-billion dollar logging industry. Over the last 150 years, as a result of heavy logging, these ancient forests have dwindled. Only about 10% of the forests remain, most on federally owned lands. And as the forests have dwindled, so too has the number of spotted owls. Biologists estimate that only 2,000 pairs survive today.

• In 1986, a worried environmentalist group petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the owl as an "endangered species," a move that would bar the timber industry from clearing these lands. In June 1990, after years of heated negotiation and litigation between the government, environmentalists, and the timber industry, the northern spotted owl was declared a threatened species. Under this provision, timber companies are required to leave at least 40% of the old-growth forests intact within a 1.3 mile radius of any spotted owl nest or activity site, a provision that is vehemently opposed by the timber industry. Industry representatives claim that the measure will leave thousands of Northwest loggers and mill workers jobless, and insist that such protectionist policies thoughtlessly fail to take into account the dire economic consequences of preservation. Environmentalists, on the other hand, argue that society has a fundamental obligation to preserve this rare species and the wilderness it inhabits.

• The controversy over the northern spotted owl follows on the heels of debates over dolphins, whales, snail darters, and desert tortoises, each raising questions concerning society's obligation to protect animals threatened by extinction. In the case of the spotted owl, we must ask whether and to what extent preserving endangered species and the wilderness they inhabit should take precedence over other considerations, such as major economic dislocations.

• Weighing the Costs and BenefitsFrom the environmentalists' perspective, the benefits of preserving the northern spotted owl and its habitat far outweigh any of the costs. First, saving the spotted owl will save an entire ecosystem on which plants, other animals, and humans depend. The spotted owl is considered an indicator species -- a gauge of the health of the ecosystem that provides its habitat. The steady decline of this species signals the demise of other species, such as elk and flying squirrel, that inhabit these forests, and the disruption of the productive forces of nature that sustain human life. The ancient forests and the life they harbor form a complex web of interdependent relationships that play a critical role in preventing soil erosion, floods, and landslides, providing clean water for agriculture and cities, enhancing the productivity of salmon fisheries, enriching the soil with vital nutrients, and ameliorating the greenhouse effect. No amount of reforestation can replace this highly developed and diverse system which has taken millennia to evolve.

• Second, society ought to preserve this species and the unique ecosystem it represents because of their aesthetic value. What kind of society would trade the magnificence of these virgin forests and the splendor of the life that inhabits them -- owl, elk, bald eagles, and mountain goats -- for paper cups and two-by-fours? To allow such a tradeoff is equivalent to destroying a great work of art that has taken centuries to create, and that will be a source of rich experience for generations of hikers, backpackers, bird-watchers, and millions of others seeking a natural world away from our teeming concrete cities.

• Finally, the owl and its habitat are of immense scientific value, providing opportunities for inquiry and for increasing our understanding of this unique ecosystem and its role in our lives and in those of future generations. To date, little research has been done on these forests. To allow their demise is to permanently foreclose the possibility of exploration and the benefits generated by new discoveries. Had the obscure organism known as penicillin become extinct before its discovery, millions of human lives would have been lost. Who knows what secrets these forests may hold?

• http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v4n1/

Spotted Owl Cont.• Environmentalists admit that saving the owls' habitat could cost jobs. But, they argue, these jobs will vanish no matter what. For if cutting

continues at its current rate of 125,000 acres a year, the old-growth forests will be gone within thirty years and the mills forced to close anyhow. Many of the jobs in the Pacific Northwest could be saved simply by restricting the export of raw timber, a practice driven by the higher profits made through sales outside of the U.S. In 1988, nearly 4 billion board feet of raw logs were exported from Washington and Oregon. Had those logs been processed in the U.S., thousands of jobs could have been generated.

• The timber industry, on the other hand, maintains that the benefits of saving the spotted owl are negligible compared to the harm that will be done. Reduced logging in the old-growth forests will harm all Americans and be particularly devastating to communities in the Pacific Northwest. These forests are a primary source of timber for most independent lumber mills in the Northwest, which account for about 65% of Western wood. Many of the saw mills are entirely dependent on old-growth cuts because their equipment can only handle trees with large dimensions. According to one report, if the volume of old growth declines, up to 28,000 jobs could be lost, leading to "increased rates of domestic disputes, divorce, acts of violence, delinquency, vandalism, suicide, alcoholism, and other problems." Nationwide, consumer prices for wood products will rise substantially. And, lumber-poor nations, such as Japan, which depend on massive amounts of timber from the U.S., will suffer.

• Second, timber industry officials state that cutting the old growth is essential if present and future generations are to be provided with the wood and paper products they need. Once these trees have reached their maturity, most of their energy is spent simply maintaining themselves, rather than in new growth. It is in society's best interest to replace these static forests with healthy, young trees that will provide an adequate supply of timber.

• The industry counters the environmentalists' claim that preservation measures ought to be supported because of the aesthetic, scientific, and ecological benefits that would result. Hundreds of thousands of acres of old-growth forests, they argue, have already been set aside as national parks and wilderness areas. Half of Oregon's three million acres of old growth is not being logged because it has been designated as wilderness or is unsuitable for logging. Also, logging sites are continually being reforested. Old-growth and second-growth forests provide ample opportunities for "aesthetic experiences," recreation, and biological exploration. Moreover, our desire for aesthetic experiences or the value we place on the pursuit of knowledge should not be allowed to override more basic needs of persons, such as the need for jobs or housing.

• The timber industry disputes the environmentalists' call for the use of alternative sources of wood. Second-growth wood, they point out, is less strong, and is knotty and twisted. It can't be used to produce many products, such as fine furniture and musical instruments, requiring the high quality old-growth wood that is characterized by fine, straight lines and few knots. Until substitutes can be found, society has no choice but to rely on wood from old-growth forests.

• http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v4n1/

Wrapping It Up

• Conservation• National Parks• Economic Development• Sustainable Development• Economic Sustainability• Endangered Species• Habitat Destruction• Extinction• Spotted Owl Controversy