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Conservation and development: a cross-disciplinary overview

Part of: Multi-dimensionality of the biodiversity crisis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2020

José Maria Cardoso da Silva Open the ORCID record for José Maria Cardoso da Silva [Opens in a new window]  and
Julie Topf
José Maria Cardoso da Silva*
Affiliation:
University of Miami, Department of Geography and Regional Studies, 1300 Campo Sano, 33124-4401, Coral Gables, FL, USA
Julie Topf
Affiliation:
University of Miami, Department of Geography and Regional Studies, 1300 Campo Sano, 33124-4401, Coral Gables, FL, USA
*
Author for correspondence: Professor José Maria Cardoso da Silva, Email: jcsilva@miami.edu
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Summary

The ability of national governments to set and implement policies that protect biodiversity is currently facing widespread scepticism within the conservation movement. Here, we review the literature from several disciplines to outline a positive agenda for how the global conservation movement can address this. We combine the strengths of the people-centred and science-led conservation approaches to develop a framework that emphasizes the importance of ecological infrastructure for the long-term prosperity of human societies in an ever-changing world. We show that one of the major goals of the conservation movement (enhancing global ecological infrastructure to end species and ecosystem loss) remains central and irreplaceable within the broad sustainable development agenda. Then, we argue that the conservation community is now more prepared than ever to face the challenge of supporting societies in designing the ecological infrastructure they need to move towards more sustainable states. Because it is where global and local priorities meet, the national level is where impactful changes can be made. Furthermore, we point out two priorities for the conservation movement for the next decade: (1) substantially increase the amount of financial resources dedicated to conservation; and (2) advance the next generation of policies for ecological infrastructure.

Keywords

biodiversityconservationpublic policysustainabilitysustainability sciencesustainable development
Type
Subject Review
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 47 , Issue 4 , December 2020 , pp. 234 - 242
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Foundation for Environmental Conservation

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