- "Nature conservation is the moral philosophy and conservation movement focused on protecting species from extinction, maintaining and restoring habitats, enhancing ecosystem services, and protecting biological diversity."
Explores how best to manage and conserve natural resources, focusing on questions of preservation, restoration, and sustainability.
Objectivity vs. Subjectivity: This topic pertains to the debate on whether ethical principles are objective or subjective. It discusses how beliefs and values influence ethical decision-making.
The Value of Nature: This topic examines the intrinsic and instrumental value of nature. It concentrates on the importance of saving the environment from human activities that may cause harm.
Ecocentrism vs. Anthropocentrism: This topic focuses on the different ethical theories that address human-nature relationships. It highlights ecocentrism's perspective that values ecosystems, which are fundamental units of life, while anthropocentrism values human beings as the central axis.
Utilitarianism: Utilitarinism is a consequentialist ethical theory that maximizes happiness and minimizes pain or harm. It would identify which action is good or bad based on its outcomes.
Deontology: Deontology, also known as duty ethics, is a moral theory based on the adherence to rules or duties. It contrasts with consequentialism, which focuses on outcomes over the means used to achieve that one good outcome.
Virtue Ethics: Virtue ethics focusses on what it means to be a moral or ethical person. It emphasizes the role of personal character traits like honesty, loyalty, and empathy in ethical decision-making.
Deep Ecology: This topic highlights the deep ecology movement, founded by Arne Næss, which argues that "self-realization, self-expression, and creativity" can only arise from a deeper understanding and connection with nature.
Social Justice and Environmental Justice: Environmental justice is concerned with the equitable distribution of environmental benefits and burdens. It is a crucial component of conservation ethics since the detrimental impact of environmental issues such as global warming hit the most disadvantaged communities.
Sustainability: Sustainability is the capacity to endure, and it concentrates on the human social economic and environmental balance with natural systems.
Climate Change: Climate change is the most pressing issue in conservation ethics. It centers on the effects of CO2 emissions and how to mitigate them while preserving the environment.
Biodiversity: This focus considers the range of species on the planet and the delicate balance of ecosystems. It explores the ethical importance of saving endangered animals and plants.
Conservation Ethics in Practice: This topic examines the practical aspects of conservation ethics, including how to approach conservation problems, how to develop policies, and how to balance the needs of people and nature.
Environmental Economics: Environmental economics highlights the importance of considering the environmental effects of economic activities in decision-making processes.
Environmental Law and Policy: Environmental law and policy are vital in conserving nature for the future. This topic highlights the different policies applied in countries worldwide to preserve and protect the environment.
Environmental Education: Education plays a crucial role in creating awareness of environmental conservation issues. This topic highlights the need to educate people on environmental conservation matters.
Ethics and Indigenous People: This topic raises concerns about how conservation ethics affect indigenous people and their relationship with the environment. It questions the balance between conservation and the tradition of indigenous people.
Environmental Ethics and Animal Rights: This topic discusses the ethical obligation to create better practices for the ethical treatment of animals while sustaining the environment.
Moral Standing: This topic examines the concept of moral standing that analyzes the right of an entity to be considered when making ethical decisions.
The Role of Science in Conservation Ethics: This topic analyses the contribution of science in environmental conservation and how scientific knowledge can help make informed ethical decisions.
Impact Assessment: This topic examines the assessment of the environmental effects of policies, projects, or programs while making informed ethical decisions.
Anthropocentric ethics: This type of conservation ethics places humans at the center of importance and argues that nature and wildlife should be preserved mainly for their usefulness to humans.
Biocentric ethics: It emphasizes the intrinsic or inherent value of all living organisms, regardless of their utility to humans. The interests of non-human species are considered alongside the interests of humans.
Ecocentric ethics: This conservation ethics emphasizes the importance of ecological systems as a whole. It argues that nature and wildlife should be preserved for their own sake and not just for human benefits.
Deep ecology: This is an ecocentric philosophy that seeks to address the root causes of environmental degradation and promote a more sustainable way of living. It emphasizes the interconnectedness of all living things and the need for a fundamental shift in the way humans relate to the natural world.
Social ecology: This prioritizes social justice while acknowledging the need for environmental preservation.
Environmental pragmatism: This is centered on the idea that environmental solutions should be grounded in what works, not just in abstract ethical principles.
Ecofeminism: This conservation ethics brings together feminism and environmentalism, arguing that there is a connection between the oppression of women and the exploitation of the natural world.
Animal liberation: This conservation ethics argues that animals deserve basic rights, such as the right to life and freedom from suffering, and that these rights should be protected just as human rights are.
Conservation biology: This is a scientific approach to conservation that seeks to understand the ecological processes behind threats to biodiversity and develop practical solutions to preserve it.
Green anarchism: This is a political philosophy that emphasizes individual freedom and environmental preservation. It often advocates for decentralized decision-making and the dismantling of hierarchical power structures.
- "A range of values underlie conservation, which can be guided by biocentrism, anthropocentrism, ecocentrism, and sentientism, environmental ideologies that inform ecocultural practices and identities."
- "There has recently been a movement towards evidence-based conservation which calls for greater use of scientific evidence to improve the effectiveness of conservation efforts."
- "As of 2018, 15% of land and 7.3% of the oceans were protected."
- "Many environmentalists set a target of protecting 30% of land and marine territory by 2030."
- "In 2021, 16.64% of land and 7.9% of the oceans were protected."
- "The 2022 IPCC report on climate impacts and adaptation underlines the need to conserve 30% to 50% of the Earth's land, freshwater, and ocean areas – echoing the 30% goal of the U.N.'s Convention on Biodiversity."
- "Ultimately, these movements should be further promoted to encourage biodiversity and to conserve a functional ecosystem."