28
Social values and conservation biogeography
nature. In protected areas, indigenous species will be
favoured over exotics, while elsewhere our cultural and
agricultural landscapes are often enriched by, and may
even depend upon, exotic species. Focusing management interventions more specifi cally on invasive
species in protected areas would allow a more effective
and effi cient targeting of conservation funds.
2.5.2 Restoration and r ewilding
The goal of restoration ecology can be broadly described
as an attempt to return an ecological system to some
historical state. Most conservationists realize the
impossibility of ever reaching such a singular goal, so
a better, if fuzzier, defi nition might take the form, ‘ an
attempt to move a damaged system to an ecological
state that is within some acceptable limits relative
to a less disturbed system ’ (Falk et al ., 2006 ). Once
again there is a clear values component to these
goals, since conservation managers seeking to ‘ restore ’
a site may need to make a choice between a range of
potential historical states (the last ecological survey,
the fi rst ecological survey, pre - industrial, pre - human)
and/or the key ecological processes that they seek
to infl uence. This latter issue may be beyond the
scope of many restoration projects due to the highly
scale - dependent nature of many ecosystem processes
and the associated ‘ services ’ that they provide for
humanity.
Issues of restoring communities and ecological processes have recently come together under proposals to
recreate long - absent assemblages of large mammals
that existed before humans fi rst spread into Europe
and North America. This conservation strategy, known
as ‘ rewilding ’ , is based on research that suggests
that these ‘ lost ’ large mammals may have played
essential roles in determining a range of ecosystem
processes.
The best example of applying the values of rewilding
to a real protected area, albeit a small one, is arguably
the 5,600 hectare Oostvaardersplassen reserve in the
Netherlands. Conservationists have successfully introduced red, fallow and roe deer, Heck cattle and konic
ponies, the latter two species as replicates of the extinct
auroch and tarpan (Sutherland, 2002 ). Konics are
considered an ancient breed, thought to be very close
to Europe ’ s extinct horses, whilst the Heck cattle were
developed in Germany in the 1920s through cross -
breeding old breeds of cattle. Wild boar, lynx and wolf
another manifestation of contemporary society being
overanxious about ‘ political correctness ’ . However,
particularly at the interface of science and society, scientists need to refl ect on how and with what consequences their technical use of language translates into
the public domain.
One option is to develop distinct terminologies for
animals, plants and pathogens and a separate vocabulary for issues relating to immigration, but even so
there would probably be little room in such a scheme
to consider the notion of exotic plant and animal
species having positive effects. An alternative approach,
suggested by Kendle and Rose (2000) , is to acknowledge the aesthetic, recreational and cultural role of
non - indigenous species in cultural landscapes. This
attitude would be congruent with those espoused
regarding modern cosmopolitan cities which celebrate
the diversity of human inhabitants, and the enrichment of society that comes from engaging with
multiple cultures.
Application of this approach would require the use
of neutral terms for non - native species, while only
those capable of invading and causing actual economic or ecological losses would be labelled pejoratively. As this line of argument implies, alongside or
alternative to changing the terms used there is perhaps
a need to re - think individual and institutional attitudes
to non - native species. Consider the response among
the birdwatching sub - community of ‘ twitchers ’ in the
UK to the arrival of a straggler vagrant individual only
very rarely seen in the UK; typically, many enthusiasts
travel to the spot as rapidly as possible to gain a sight
of the stray before the bird expires or disappears again.
Such behaviour suggests that our attitudes to the
exotic can, in the right circumstances, be remarkably
positive.
Also, given suffi cient time following their introduction, many exotic species are effectively culturally
assimilated to the point that they are generally regarded
as native, notwithstanding that they have been introduced by people from perhaps a very distant and different biogeographical region. This again suggests that
notions of ‘ naturalness ’ are in fact somewhat more
fl uid and less reactionary than some conservation
commentators suggest may be the case.
In summary, non - indigenous species that are invasive, such as rats, zebra mussels, and water hyacinth,
to name a few, have had adverse effects on ecosystem
structure and function, and are a legitimate target for
conservation intervention in areas set aside for wild
Social values and conservation biogeography
nature. In protected areas, indigenous species will be
favoured over exotics, while elsewhere our cultural and
agricultural landscapes are often enriched by, and may
even depend upon, exotic species. Focusing management interventions more specifi cally on invasive
species in protected areas would allow a more effective
and effi cient targeting of conservation funds.
2.5.2 Restoration and r ewilding
The goal of restoration ecology can be broadly described
as an attempt to return an ecological system to some
historical state. Most conservationists realize the
impossibility of ever reaching such a singular goal, so
a better, if fuzzier, defi nition might take the form, ‘ an
attempt to move a damaged system to an ecological
state that is within some acceptable limits relative
to a less disturbed system ’ (Falk et al ., 2006 ). Once
again there is a clear values component to these
goals, since conservation managers seeking to ‘ restore ’
a site may need to make a choice between a range of
potential historical states (the last ecological survey,
the fi rst ecological survey, pre - industrial, pre - human)
and/or the key ecological processes that they seek
to infl uence. This latter issue may be beyond the
scope of many restoration projects due to the highly
scale - dependent nature of many ecosystem processes
and the associated ‘ services ’ that they provide for
humanity.
Issues of restoring communities and ecological processes have recently come together under proposals to
recreate long - absent assemblages of large mammals
that existed before humans fi rst spread into Europe
and North America. This conservation strategy, known
as ‘ rewilding ’ , is based on research that suggests
that these ‘ lost ’ large mammals may have played
essential roles in determining a range of ecosystem
processes.
The best example of applying the values of rewilding
to a real protected area, albeit a small one, is arguably
the 5,600 hectare Oostvaardersplassen reserve in the
Netherlands. Conservationists have successfully introduced red, fallow and roe deer, Heck cattle and konic
ponies, the latter two species as replicates of the extinct
auroch and tarpan (Sutherland, 2002 ). Konics are
considered an ancient breed, thought to be very close
to Europe ’ s extinct horses, whilst the Heck cattle were
developed in Germany in the 1920s through cross -
breeding old breeds of cattle. Wild boar, lynx and wolf
another manifestation of contemporary society being
overanxious about ‘ political correctness ’ . However,
particularly at the interface of science and society, scientists need to refl ect on how and with what consequences their technical use of language translates into
the public domain.
One option is to develop distinct terminologies for
animals, plants and pathogens and a separate vocabulary for issues relating to immigration, but even so
there would probably be little room in such a scheme
to consider the notion of exotic plant and animal
species having positive effects. An alternative approach,
suggested by Kendle and Rose (2000) , is to acknowledge the aesthetic, recreational and cultural role of
non - indigenous species in cultural landscapes. This
attitude would be congruent with those espoused
regarding modern cosmopolitan cities which celebrate
the diversity of human inhabitants, and the enrichment of society that comes from engaging with
multiple cultures.
Application of this approach would require the use
of neutral terms for non - native species, while only
those capable of invading and causing actual economic or ecological losses would be labelled pejoratively. As this line of argument implies, alongside or
alternative to changing the terms used there is perhaps
a need to re - think individual and institutional attitudes
to non - native species. Consider the response among
the birdwatching sub - community of ‘ twitchers ’ in the
UK to the arrival of a straggler vagrant individual only
very rarely seen in the UK; typically, many enthusiasts
travel to the spot as rapidly as possible to gain a sight
of the stray before the bird expires or disappears again.
Such behaviour suggests that our attitudes to the
exotic can, in the right circumstances, be remarkably
positive.
Also, given suffi cient time following their introduction, many exotic species are effectively culturally
assimilated to the point that they are generally regarded
as native, notwithstanding that they have been introduced by people from perhaps a very distant and different biogeographical region. This again suggests that
notions of ‘ naturalness ’ are in fact somewhat more
fl uid and less reactionary than some conservation
commentators suggest may be the case.
In summary, non - indigenous species that are invasive, such as rats, zebra mussels, and water hyacinth,
to name a few, have had adverse effects on ecosystem
structure and function, and are a legitimate target for
conservation intervention in areas set aside for wild