Is environmental research a waste of time?

Abstract

Over the past decade, we have noticed that the public service, government, environmental non-governmental organizations and the wider community have started to question the value of environ-mental research. In this editorial I will provide some of my favourite answers to the question of whether environmental research is a waste of time, answers that are eclectic and not comprehensive. I hope that readers of this promising new journal, which sits at the research/management interface, will discuss this issue further. The anti-environmental research argument goes a bit like this: we know that the major threats to Australia's biodiversity are vegetation clearance, feral predators, weeds, excessive herbivory etc.; we also know the solutions to these threats, so why not just get out there and do it? To a certain extent this argument has been one component of the Natural Heritage Trust (NHT) philosophy. Researchers are accused of wasting money on esoteric issues and not focusing on solving the big problems. I have some sympathy with this position: what is intriguing intellectually is not always important from a management perspective. However, in some cases the argument has gone so far that it is now detrimental to ecological restoration and protection goals. One of the consequences of the backlash against environmental research has been a reduction of research by government agencies: 'We are not allowed to do research any more, or if we do, we call it something else'. Another consequence is enhancing the myth that all research is pure research, boffins sitting in laboratories or in front of computers with no connection to the real world. This myth is popular with the media and fits well with their love of making a prejudiced caricature of any profession. Most of us know that the pure/applied research divide is fairly arbitrary, most major technological advances are founded in so-called pure research. Now to a few answers to the main question: is environmental research a waste of time?