Do Conservation Targets Help?: Second Sibthorp Seminar: 2 (Sibthorp Seminar Series)

Do Conservation Targets Help? - This question was based on an article published in Science by Soule and Sajayan, and then broadened to take a wider look at nature conservation in the light of major changes that have influenced our underlying assumptions about conservation that have taken place since the mid-20th century: the internationalisation of the conservation agenda following Agenda 21 and the coming into force of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the widespread adoption of the aim of sustainable development, the different time scales of concern, demographic growth, climate change, and the changing relationships between science, society and government. From these different influences come various agendas, and the aims, goals and priorities proposed by the conservation and biodiversity communities may mot be recognised or accepted by other constituencies. This seminar examines and discusses these various perspectives and, where necessary, challenges them and attempts to see how far these often conflicting aims may be reconciled.