ABSTRACT
Proponents of a conservationist approach argue that humans have to intervene on the environment to actively favor its sustainability. Preservationist arguments have also deeply influenced international environmental politics. Nongovernmental organizations such as the Sierra Club and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds have pushed states to create protected areas to preserve wildlife. In some international regimes, conservationist and preservationist views openly clash. It is notoriously the case at the International Whaling Commission, where Japan advocates for sustainable hunting practices while the United States and other countries support preservation and are opposed to all whaling activity, even for species that are not endangered. There are also heated debates under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, as some African countries, such as Kenya, favor a strict ban on the trade of ivory while others, including Zimbabwe, argue that an unmanaged elephant population can negatively impact the ecosystem while ivory sales can fund conservation.
