ABSTRACT
Think ‘nature conservation’ and most people will think of what is known within the professional conservation community, somewhat mischievously, as the ‘big charismatic mega-fauna’. There is little doubt that it has been a relatively small group of large, big
eyed, often fluffy animals that has grabbed most of the attention (and money) for conservation down the years. There is also little doubt that the established narrative for protecting bears, elephants, tigers, rhinos, whales, dolphins and nature more generally has been, to date, one largely based on a moral argument rather than an economic one. Perhaps we should not be so surprised, then, that the protection of ecosystems and biodiversity has been an issue that most of the business community have traditionally seen as irrelevant to the good oldfashioned business of business. But as the understanding of the role that biodiversity and ecosystems play in supporting our economy grows, so some parts of the business community are starting to look at the issue with fresh eyes. Over the past couple of decades, climate change has moved from an issue
that never made it into the corporate boardroom to one that, directly or indirectly, is now influencing many decisions of corporate strategy. Could it be that ‘biodiversity’ is now set to follow a similar issue trajectory? Is ‘biodiversity’ the next ‘climate change’ for business?
