ABSTRACT
Biodiversity conservation as a practical discipline has been significantly transformed over the past twenty years. Given the extent to which humans influence not only biodiversity loss, but also geographical distribution, and ecological dynamics, there has been a shift in the study of conservation as a scientific discipline from a concern strictly with ecological and biological diversity measures to an interdisciplinary field, drawing upon the human sciences. What has now been called “conservation science” – as opposed to “conservation biology” (Kareiva and Marvier 2012) – is currently more interdisciplinary in character, for two reasons: one pragmatic, and another normative (Callicott et al. 1999, Sarkar 2012, Norton 2015). First, there is a growing realization that effective biodiversity conservation must draw upon research in psychology, economics, politics, geography, and anthropology. Second, there is a growing realization that conservation and international justice issues are significantly intertwined (Figueroa and Mills 2001, Dowie 2009, Sarkar 2012).
