Biodiversity: Exploring Values and Priorities in Conservation

Biodiversity has become a buzzword in the environmental movement and in science, and is increasingly being taught in university degree courses. This new text is designed as a primer, giving non-specialists an introduction to the historical context, current debates, and ongoing research in this subject.

This book helps the reader understand the conceptual problems and real-world implications raised by efforts to protect biodiversity. The goal of this book is to clarify the role that human values play in creating practical definitions of the term biodiversity. The concept of biodiversity, according to the authors, is both more subtle and more difficult to employ in practical situations than is commonly appreciated.

Conceptualizing and assessing biodiversity and setting conversation priorities are not narrowly defined biological problems-they are broad based human enterprises with a large social and political component. Human resources are not sufficient to protect all of biodiversity, and difficult choices of what to conserve lie ahead. The goal of this book is to clarify the role that human values play in creating practical definitions of the term biodiversity.

This book is written for conversation decision makers: conversation biologists, lawmakers, and policy planners in governmental and non-governmental agencies; business people in fields such as agriculture, forestry, and paper products; and students in al of these fields.