Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-04T22:41:37.206Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An Economist's Critique of the World Conservation Strategy, with Examples from the Australian Experience

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Clement A. Tisdell
Clement A. Tisdell
Affiliation:
Professor of Economics, University of Newcastle, New South Wales 2308, Australia.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The World Conservation Strategy aims to foster ‘sustainable development through the conservation of living resources’. While this is an admirable goal, the definition of conservation given in the Strategy document seems too imprecise to be operational.

The framers of the Strategy hope to convince developers and others that conservation is needed if development is to be sustained, contending that in the absence of conservation, development may be short-lived and uncertain. Possibly in order to give it greater political appeal, the Strategy takes a Man-centred approach to conservation. Nevertheless little attention is given to the ultimate ends of Mankind, that is, the type of issues raised by Daly (1980).

However, even if more immediate goals of mankind are considered, there is a strong case for conservation. In order to achieve living-resource conservation, the World Conservation Strategy suggests that it is necessary: (1) to maintain essential ecological processes and life-support systems; (2) to preserve genetic diversity; and (3) to ensure the sustainable utilization of species and ecosystems. Detailed recommendations are made for achieving each of these three conditions.

Type
Main Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , Spring 1983 , pp. 43 - 52
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1983

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Allen, R. (1980). How to Save the World: Strategy for World Conservation. Kogan Page, London, England, UK: 150 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Anon (1982). Declaration: The World Campaign for The Biosphere. Environmental Conservation, 9 (2), pp. 91–2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, C.W. (1976). Mathematical Bioeconomics: The Optimal Management of Renewable Resources. John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, USA: xiv + 352 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, C. J. & Freeman, A.M. (1971). Option demand and consumer surplus. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 85, pp. 528–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daly, H.E. (1980). Economics, Ecology and Ethics: Essays Toward Steady-state Economy. Freeman, San Francisco, California, USA: xii + 372 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Dasmann, R.F., Milton, J.P. & Freeman, P.H. (1973). Ecological Principles for Economic Development. John Wiley & Sons, London, England, UK: x + 252 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Department of Home Affairs and Environment (1982). Towards a National Conservation Strategy: A Discussion Paper. Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, Australia: 71 pp.Google Scholar
Frith, H.J. (1973). Wildlife Conservation. Angus & Robertson, Sydney, Australia: xiv + 414 pp., illustr.Google Scholar
Global 2000 Report (1980). The Global 2000 Report to the President: Entering the Twenty-first Century, Vol I. Council on Environmental Quality and US State Department, US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, USA: ix + 47 pp., appendix, figs & tables.Google Scholar
Hart, A.G. (1942). Risk, uncertainty and the unprofitability of compounding probabilities. Pp. 111–8 in Studies in Mathematical Economics and Econometrics (Ed. Lange, O., McIntyre, F. & Yntema, F.). University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, USA: ix + 292 pp.Google Scholar
McIlroy, J.C. (1978). The effects of forestry practices on wildlife in Australia: A review. Australian Forestry, 41 (2), pp. 78–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manhattan Institute for Economic Policy (1982). Manhattan Report on Economic Policy, 11 (3), 12 pp.Google Scholar
Myers, N. (1979). The Sinking Ark: A New Look at the Problem of Disappearing Species. Pergamon, Oxford, England, UK: xiii + 307 pp.Google Scholar
Myers, N. (1980). The present status and future prospects of tropical moist forests. Environmental Conservation, 7 (2), pp. 101–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pauling, L., Benavides, F., Wahlen, F.T., Kassas, M., Vohra, B.B. & Knox, G.A. (1982). Open letter: To all who should be concerned. Environmental Conservation, 9 (2), pp. 89–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polunin, N. (1982). Our global environment and the World Campaign for The Biosphere. Environmental Conservation, 9 (2), pp. 115–21, 2 figs.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Talbot, L.M. (1980). The world's conservation strategy. Environmental Conservation, 7 (4), pp. 259–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tisdell, C.A. (1970). Implications of learning for economic planning. Economics of Planning, 10 (3), pp. 177–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tisdell, C.A. (1972). Provision of parks and the preservation of nature—some economic factors. Australian Economic Papers, 11, pp. 154–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tisdell, C.A. (1975). The theory of optimal city-sizes: Some elementary considerations. Urban Studies, 12, pp. 61–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tisdell, C.A. (1979). On the Economics of Saving Wildlife from Extinction. Department of Economics, University of Newcastle, New South Wales 2308, Australia, Research Report or Occasional Paper No. 48, 29 pp.Google Scholar
Tisdell, C.A. (1982 a). Microeconomics of Markets. John Wiley & Sons, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia: xii + 626 pp., figs & tables.Google Scholar
Tisdell, C.A. (1982 b). Wild Pigs: Environmental Pest or Economic Resource? Pergamon Press, Sydney, Australia: viii + 445 pp., figs & tables.Google Scholar
World Conservation Strategy (WCS) (1980). The World Conservation Strategy: Living Resource Conservation for Sustainable Development. IUCN-UNEP-WWF (obtainable from IUCN, Avenue du Mont-Blanc, 1196 Gland, Switzerland: pack of ca 50 unnumbered pp., illustr., in stiff folder).Google Scholar
Worthington, E.B. (1982). World Campaign for The Biosphere. Environmental Conservation, 9 (2), pp. 93–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar