Conservation philosophy / Timing: 6:01

Conservation philosophy
Welcome to United for Wildlifes online course in conservation. Im Nisha Owen and in this video, well
be looking at what conservation means and some of the reasons why it is important.
Lets start with the natural world our environment. How important is it? Whether we pay much
attention to it or not, it not just important, its actually essential for our survival. Were a part of the
natural world, even though sometimes it doesnt feel like it. As a part of it, we need it to live.
Nature provides all the amazing things we take for granted: air, water, food, even medicine. But many of
us are becoming more and more disconnected from the natural world and not realising that it needs to
be in good shape to provide us with all of these things. This is simply because for many of us, weve
actually stopped thinking about where our air, food and water comes from. All the things that nature
does for us we can think of as having use or utilitarian value this is the value that comes from our
ability to make use of natural resources.
As well as being vital to our survival, nature also provides us with wonder, with awe-inspiring natural
beauty. How many of us have heard of, seen on TV, or even been lucky enough to see in real life such
natural wonders as the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, Mount Everest in the Himalayas or the Amazon
Rainforest in South America? Imagine if these places no longer existed, if we lived in a barren concrete
jungle?
And what about some of the amazing wildlife that we share our planet with? Tigers, elephants, whales,
parrots plus all of the less well-known but just as special animals like the Chinese giant salamander, a
man-sized newt that well be hearing more about later on in the course. What if, like the dodo, we
only knew about these animals from drawings, from old photos and in the future, from documentaries?
Should wildlife have a right to exist simply because it already does, because we might think its beautiful
or amazing? Or because we might want to leave these gifts for future generations? We can think of
these moral and ethical values as being the inherent value of nature. Ultimately, thats what
conservation is all about. Preserving the natural world, focusing on the life around us, animals, plants
and their natural habitats because we place value on it, we need it or we think it has its own right to
exist.
But while we need nature to survive, were destroying the world around us. Were cutting down trees,
clearing forests, driving species to extinction and producing so much pollution were changing the global
climate. Our impact has become so catastrophic that were in the midst of an extinction event
happening right now that is on the same scale as the one which wiped out the dinosaurs1. Unless we
take a stand to ensure the continued existence of all species including humanity, were orchestrating our
own downfall. We need to be thinking about sustainable development and stable economies because
we just dont have enough planet to carry on the way we are now. Were already beginning to run out of
fossil fuels and mineral resources; armed conflicts in the Middle East have already been described as the
first of this centurys resource wars and these are predicted to increase in the future2.
Can you imagine fighting over such basics as food and water? These problems are only going to grow as
the worlds population continues to increase and the divide between rich and poor becomes even more
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Conservation philosophy / Timing: 6:01

pronounced.
However, conservation activities are uniquely able to help us try to tackle some of these fundamental
problems the conflicts that arise when you have a clash of values and cultures over the environment.
Conservation cant be about dictating to others or the better-off telling those who are poorer how they
should be living. Conservation can help us to work together and be inspired together so we can think
about new ways to face these problems. Protected areas can benefit both people and wildlife did you
know that 15% of the worlds land area is now protected3? Conservationists have developed innovative
ways to address conflicts between people over wildlife such as turning traditional hunters and poachers
into protectors and guards.
With the support of consumers, people like you, we can help business to ensure their products are more
sustainable. We need to do something before its too late and we can all do our bit, just like you have in
taking this course to find out more.
There have been some amazing conservation success stories and weve even been able to bring species
such as the Arabian oryx back from the brink. Oryx were once extinct in the wild but the reintroduction
of a captive bred population has resulted in the establishment of a wild population of over a thousand
animals. But taking action isnt restricted to conservationists on the front line, everyone can find out
more and be part of the change - lets stop the disconnect between us and the natural world.
In the rest of the course, well be hearing about these ideas in more detail and in this module, well look
at understanding conservation. For now, join the forum to discuss what conservation means to you and
in the next video, you can find out more about why the variety of life is so important.

Dirzo R et al. (2014) Defaunation in the Anthropocene. Science 25 July 2014: 345 (6195), 401-406.

Guardian 2009. UK's ex-science chief predicts century of 'resource' wars.

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/feb/13/resource-wars-david-king
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Biodiversity Indicators Partnership http://www.bipindicators.net/pacoverage