Conservation Focus: Directions for Conservation

摘要

Michael Soule wrote an editorial for the October 2013 issue of Conservation Biology. In it he argues that the "new conservation" erodes some of the fundamental goals of conservation biology, capitulating the primacy of biodiversity for human health and well-being. Michelle Marvier, one of the authors Michael criticizes, responded in an editorial in the February issue, saying that many of Michael's accusations were misguided or misplaced. Underlying the debate is a fundamental difference in values. One may see a preoccupation with human wellbeing as an inescapable reality, or one may see it as a capitulation of fundamental values that have driven the discipline since its inception. The participants in this debate share the common goal of maximizing biodiversity outcomes. What differs is how the discipline should approach problem solving and the priorities it sets for research and application. The following articles build on the debate that arose from the two editorials. The contributors should be lauded for their commitment to scientific discourse and for building a constructive dialogue from what may have become a divisive polemic.