This book examines the role of ethics and philosophy in biodiversity conservation. The objective of this book is two-fold: on the one hand it offers a detailed and systematic account of central normative concepts often used, but rarely explicated nor justified, within conservation biology. Such concepts include ‘values’ (both intrinsic, instrumental, and, more recently, relational), ‘rights’, and ‘duties’. The second objective is to emphasize to environmental philosophers and applied ethicists the many interesting decision-making challenges of biodiversity conservation. The book argues that a nuanced account of instrumental values provides a powerful tool for reasoning about the values of biodiversity. It also scrutinizes relational values, the concept of rights of nature, and risk, and show how moral philosophy proves indispensable for these concepts. Consequently, it engages with recent suggestions on normative aspects of biodiversity conservation, and show the need for moral philosophy in biodiversity conservation. The overriding aim of this book is to provide conservation biologists and policy-makers with a systematic overview of concepts and assessments of the reasons for reaching prescriptive conclusions about biodiversity conservation. This will prove instrumental in clarifying the role of applied ethics and a refined understanding of the tools it can provide. This title will be of interest to students and scholars of conservation biology, conservation policy, environmental ethics and environmental philosophy.

Covering three broader issues biodiversity conservation, religious doctrine and environment the book Biodiversity Conservation Ethics in Major Religions is the result of a unique approach. It attempts to initiate scientific discourse through the fabric of religions. Spread across 15 chapters, the book covers the essence of 10 religions on biodiversity, encompassing a wide range of issues related to conservation. The book promises to be a useful resource for biodiversity students, researchers and protected area managers and also for religious scholars who are invited to look at the broader themes of religions beyond theology.

In 1864 in India, the British Raj established the Imperial Forest Department. Social forestry got a major boost in the early 1980s, initiating a new approach to deal with the problem of biotic interference on forest land. A great change was made in forest and forestry management for the protection and development of forests, where Forest Protection Committees (FPCs) were formed by villagers, following the Arabari Model Community forest experiment in West Bengal, for usufruct rights and revenue sharing, which is unique in the history of forest management in the world. Ethics of Biodiversity Conservation takes a unique longitudinal view of this important forestry management case study. Today, increasing human population, growing industrialization, pollution, and climate change, creates the challenge of determining ways and means of ensuring that biodiversity conservation is an integral part of forest management.

To comprehensively address the complexities of current socio-ecological problems involved in global environmental change, it is indispiseble to achieve an integration of ecological understanding and ethical values. Contemporary science proposes an inclusive ecosystem concept that recognizes humans as components. Contemporary environmental ethics includes eco-social justice and the realization that as important as biodiversity is cultural diversity, inter-cultural, inter-institutional, and international collaboration requiring a novel approach known as biocultural conservation. Right action in confronting the challenges of the 21st century requires science and ethics to be seamlessly integrated. This book resulted from the 14th Cary Conference that brought together leading scholars and practitioners in ecology and environmental philosophy to discuss core terminologies, methods, questions, and practical frameworks for long-term socio-ecological research, education, and decision making.

Covering three broader issues - biodiversity conservation, religious doctrine and environment - the book Biodiversity Conservation Ethics in Major Religions is the result of a unique approach. It attempts to initiate scientific discourse through the fabric of religions. Spread across 15 chapters, the book covers the essence of 10 religions on biodiversity, encompassing a wide range of issues related to conservation. The book promises to be a useful resource for biodiversity students, researchers and protected area managers and also for religious scholars who are invited to look at the broader themes of religions beyond theology.

This handbook on the ethical and theological underpinnings of biodiversity conservation is meant to be a tool to open a broader conversation on the ethical considerations related to protecting species, habitat, and ecosystems. Featuring essays from a distinguished group of ethicists, theologians, environmental advocates and communications experts, the purpose of this publication is to help biodiversity spokespersons understand the ethical and religious frameworks in which biodiversity issues are discussed so that they can communicate more effectively with the public. The University of Wisconsin Press no longer distributes this title. The book is still in print and copies may be ordered from: Biodiversity Project 214 N Henry St Ste 201 Madison, WI 53703 Tel: 608-250-9876 Fax: 608-257-3513 Email: [email protected] www.biodiversityproject.org