the conservation movement

Question 1

origins of the modern global conservation movement

Answer 1

• late 19th to early 20th century
• cities in Europe and East Coast America
• realisation that human civilisation has a large negative impact on ecosystems and nature is fragile

Question 2

events that influenced the start of the modern global conservation movement

Answer 2

• well published extinction events e.g. the Great auk (1852), large flightless seabird in Europe and North America, hunted to extinction (food and sport), passenger pigeon (1914), historically very common in North America, thylacine (1936), large carnivorous marsupial in Australia
• deforestation of the Great Lakes region, collapse of ecosystems from human influence observed in US (already occurred in Europe)
• appreciation of human’s close kinship to animals, ‘discovery’ of great apes (1847), evolutionary theory (1859)

Question 3

cultural differences in attitudes to nature 19th-20th century

Answer 3

• Europe focuses on human interaction with nature, study of nature as a part of cultural heritage, returning landscape to pre-agricultural intensification/industrial revolution times instead of pre-human, focus on importance in terms of human wellbeing
• North America, conservation of pristine landscapes, ecosystem destruction from human influence more recent
• European colonies, rational and planned use of nature, seen as sources of raw materials, growing awareness of sustainable management as to not use up resources

Question 4

values of nature at different levels of society

Answer 4

• international, usefulness of nature to economic development, sustainable development
• national, national identity, species as icons of cultural identity, sense of place
• personal, aesthetics and compassion for wildlife

Question 5

earliest conservation societies

Answer 5

• influential people formed elite conservation clubs and societies (had time, leisure and influence, could see destruction of nature)
• had connections, started to actively promote legislation
• e.g. SPWFE

Question 6

SPWFE

Answer 6

• society for the preservation of the wild fauna and flora of the empire
• colonial hunters found fewer animals to hunt
• realisation they were destroying the ecosystem
• established nature reserves and changed hunting culture to focus on sustainable management
• saved African megafauna
• still active as Fauna and Flora International

Question 7

UK conservation societies that started to employ professionals

Answer 7

• footpaths and commons preservation society
• designate and protect public footpaths and green spaces in the UK
• promoted urban green spaces in city planning
• rescued Hampstead heath
• National trust, acquires land, UK’s 2nd largest landowner

Question 8

zoos, museums and botanical gardens

Answer 8

• conservation focus developed, used to be only private collections for enjoyment
• formed as ‘arks’ for endangered species
• captive breeding and reintroduction
• e.g. successful restocking of American West with bison

Question 9

global conservation organisations that formed in the second half of the 20th century

Answer 9

• independence of many colonies
• adaptation of change in circumstances
• neo-colonial control over conservation methods of newly established post-colonial countries
• 1990s, IUCN and WWF accused of neo-colonialism, interfering and imposing western values on developing countries

Question 10

the IUCN

Answer 10

• international union for the conservation of nature and natural resources
• formed in 1947 by UNESCO
• allowed international development funds to be used for conservation
• formulated international policy agendas e.g. coordinated global network of nature reserves
• encouraged new governments of developing countries to establish conservation departments and presented them with best practice guidelines

Question 11

WWF

Answer 11

• established in 1961
• fundraising for global conservation
• worked with governments to build conservation strategies
• after being accused of neo-colonialism in 1990s they reformed country offices into independent organisations governed and staffed by local people
• made network more bottom-up but still allowed them to redistribute funding to where it was most needed

Question 12

Birdlife international

Answer 12

• formed from small British conservation organisation
• formed global network of local bird conservation organisations worldwide
• gave them a global voice in politics and allowed them to access development funds

Question 13

conservation international

Answer 13

• very successful organisation in the late 21st century
• put together from scratch
• concept of ‘biodiversity hotspots’
• targeted international development funding at these 36 hotspots, best ‘value for money’

Question 14

criteria for biodiversity hotspots

Answer 14

• at least 1500 vascular plant species as endemics (>0.5% of world’s total)
• lost >70% primary vegetation

Question 15

problems with focusing funding on ‘biodiversity funding’

Answer 15

• criteria only looked at plants, most organisms are invertebrates
• most hotspots are tropical rainforests, not much habitat diversity
• neglects other important ecosystems with lower biodiversity e.g. peat bogs, important for carbon sequestration