TY - JOUR
T1 - Hard choices
T2 - Making trade-offs between biodiversity conservation and human well-being
AU - McShane, Thomas O.
AU - Hirsch, Paul D.
AU - Trung, Tran Chi
AU - Songorwa, Alexander N.
AU - Kinzig, Ann
AU - Monteferri, Bruno
AU - Mutekanga, David
AU - Thang, Hoang Van
AU - Dammert, Juan Luis
AU - Pulgar-Vidal, Manuel
AU - Welch-Devine, Meredith
AU - Peter Brosius, J.
AU - Coppolillo, Peter
AU - O'Connor, Sheila
N1 - Funding Information:
This paper is the result of a symposium organized by Thad Miller and Ben Minteer at the 2008 Society for Conservation Biology Annual Meeting held in Chattanooga, TN, USA. It has benefited greatly from extensive early discussions with R. Michael Wright and Dan Miller. We thank Thad Miller, Ben Minteer, Leon Malan and three anonymous reviewers for subsequent comments on the manuscript. This study is part of Advancing Conservation in a Social Context (ACSC) a research initiative supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation through a grant to the Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University.
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - Win-win solutions that both conserve biodiversity and promote human well-being are difficult to realize. Trade-offs and the hard choices they entail are the norm. Since 2008, the Advancing Conservation in a Social Context (ACSC) research initiative has been investigating the complex trade-offs that exist between human well-being and biodiversity conservation goals, and between conservation and other economic, political and social agendas across multiple scales. Resolving trade-offs is difficult because social problems - of which conservation is one - can be perceived and understood in a variety of disparate ways, influenced (in part at least) by how people are raised and educated, their life experiences, and the options they have faced. Pre-existing assumptions about the "right" approach to conservation often obscure important differences in both power and understanding, and can limit the success of policy and programmatic interventions. The new conservation debate challenges conservationists to be explicit about losses, costs, and hard choices so they can be openly discussed and honestly negotiated. Not to do so can lead to unrealized expectations, and ultimately to unresolved conflict. This paper explores the background and limitations of win-win approaches to conservation and human well-being, discusses the prospect of approaching conservation challenges in terms of trade-offs and hard choices, and presents a set of guiding principles that can serve to orient strategic analysis and communication regarding trade-offs.
AB - Win-win solutions that both conserve biodiversity and promote human well-being are difficult to realize. Trade-offs and the hard choices they entail are the norm. Since 2008, the Advancing Conservation in a Social Context (ACSC) research initiative has been investigating the complex trade-offs that exist between human well-being and biodiversity conservation goals, and between conservation and other economic, political and social agendas across multiple scales. Resolving trade-offs is difficult because social problems - of which conservation is one - can be perceived and understood in a variety of disparate ways, influenced (in part at least) by how people are raised and educated, their life experiences, and the options they have faced. Pre-existing assumptions about the "right" approach to conservation often obscure important differences in both power and understanding, and can limit the success of policy and programmatic interventions. The new conservation debate challenges conservationists to be explicit about losses, costs, and hard choices so they can be openly discussed and honestly negotiated. Not to do so can lead to unrealized expectations, and ultimately to unresolved conflict. This paper explores the background and limitations of win-win approaches to conservation and human well-being, discusses the prospect of approaching conservation challenges in terms of trade-offs and hard choices, and presents a set of guiding principles that can serve to orient strategic analysis and communication regarding trade-offs.
KW - Biodiversity conservation
KW - Development
KW - Human well-being
KW - Trade-offs
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U2 - 10.1016/j.biocon.2010.04.038
DO - 10.1016/j.biocon.2010.04.038
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:79951809039
SN - 0006-3207
VL - 144
SP - 966
EP - 972
JO - Biological Conservation
JF - Biological Conservation
IS - 3
ER -