Spring 2020

Newsletter Archive

Proposed 'Biodiversity Conservation' Definition

Few people spend time thinking about what biodiversity conservation means, even those of us working this field. When we do get asked about it, we tend to dash to two extremes: we define what biodiversity is in grand generic terms, and/or we catalogue the mechanisms we use (parks, laws, education, research, advocacy, etc.).

In doing so, we generally skip over the critical linkage between these two concepts: what actually needs to happen to conserve our biodiversity?

And, no, this is not just the concern of a person locked in his closet with a flashlight and the Oxford English Dictionary (!). In doing our work, this is where the rubber hits the road (or the paw hits the trail). When we take 'conservation action', we need to judge whether it will indeed have a positive impact on maintaining biodiversity.

As part of our Biodiversity and Private Land Conservation project, we ended up having to address this head on, recognizing that "Well, 'cause it's protected!" was not compelling evidence of whether ecological systems and features were in fact better off. To assist this effort, we developed a proposed description of biodiversity conservation.

I'd be curious to hear your thoughts: guy@rockies.ca