Advancing Conservation in a Globalized World

Abstract

In an increasingly globalized world, the impacts of industrial agriculture, forestry, fisheries, and natural resource extraction have become faraway notions that are out of sight, out of mind for too many consumers. To stimulate awareness and fresh thinking about nature conservation, this chapter begins by examining people's expansive ecological footprint - cumulatively through population density, land use and infrastructure, and individually through the products people purchase. A global analysis Juxtaposing maps of habitat loss and habitat protection reveals a "biome crisis" in the world's temperate grasslands and Mediterranean habitats, and in 305 "crisis ecoregions" where the extent of habitat loss has outpaced habitat protection by at least a factor of two. This disparity threatens species and puts the sustainability of entire ecosystems in peril. Rising to this and other challenges to conservation in a globalized world depends on harnessing information technologies like Google Earth to raise awareness of problems and solutions around the world. It also depends on valuing nature for the essential benefits it provides to people - benefits such as clean water for cities and climate-moderating carbon sequestration. Establishing these values promises to make conservation a more integrated part of both local and global economics.