User:Nalyd24/The Philosophy of Conservation Biology

Introduction

Conservation biology as a distinct scientific field emerged in the mid-1980s. In 1985, the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) was created, and in 1987, it began publishing Conservation Biology, a peer-reviewed journal which is still in print as well as the most prominent publication within the field. According to its 2016-17 annual report, the Society boasts over 4,000 members, and has 36 chapters around the world. Often, conservation biology is associated with the concept of biodiversity. The founding of the SCB coincided with planning for the 1986 National Forum on BioDiversity. Although coordinated independently of the process that led to SCB's creation, the forum represented a parallel convergence of conservation concern among scientists. Subsequently, veteran biologists such as E.O. Wilson and Harold Mooney, both of whom participated in the forum on biodiversity, became prominent figures in conservation biology. By the end of the 1980s, the field had gained its footing within academia, zoos and botanical gardens, nonprofit conservation groups, resource management agencies, and international development organizations. The roots of conservation biology, however, extend into the 19th century. Early conservation programs, most prominently those in British India and in the United States, greatly influenced conservation biology as an applied science.

In recent years, social scientists have criticized several key concepts in conservation biology, such as, to give some examples, the idea of predators as keystone species, and the need to protect nature from society in order to allow it to thrive. Additionally, the normative position of conservation biology has been challenged. Philosophers of science have also dealt with the question of biodiversity. More broadly, however, the emergence of Science studies stimulated by the work of Thomas Kuhn has given rise to a flourishing of sociological, historical, and philosophical analyses of science and the way values structure it. Particularly, Kitcher and the favelas reading bear relevance here. Moreover, the sociological analyses challenge the ethics of the normative position of conservation biology, the philosophical analysis has challenged traditional views of biodiversity and island biogeography, and historical analyses have sought to emphasize the colonial remnants within the field.