I agree with Kelly that this is a great question and I'm not sure that there is a specific answer (at least I don't have it!).
Your question reminded me of a colleague in a statutory conservation organisation who maintained that all the habitat management actions and conservation practices undertaken in national nature reserves were equivalent to gardening (although he agreed that he wasn't sure what should be done instead). This probably sounds similar to your employer's viewpoint but in countries like Ireland and England there is no truly "natural area" - so "letting nature manage it" is never going to happen. Our environment is very much a human-modified one. To that end, I'd link the questions raised by both you and Kelly and add to that - how do we set targets for priority habitats and dedicate conservation actions when what we know and value has come about through farming and other land management practices? I still struggle with this one. Sincerely, Caitriona On 19 January 2011 14:28, Kelly Stettner <[email protected]>wrote: > Jason; thank you for posing this question to this forum! I find this topic > to > be a never-ending source of interest; the way we humans set ourselves apart > from > the rest of nature, the way we so often depict ourselves as being > somehow outside the realm of nature and how so many of our decisions are > based > wholly on this paradigm. I love to explore the philosophy of it all: are > we > truly the only species who has 'intent' when it comes to interacting with > our > surroundings? What about the way certain ants manage herds of aphids like > dairy > farmers, for example? Do they not intentionally manage the aphid > population, > defend their flock from invading ladybugs who attack and attempt to eat the > aphids? I'm just posing humble questions, trying to flesh out my thoughts, > hoping for some interesting dialogue. > > Sincerely, > Kelly Stettner > www.BlackRiverActionTeam.org > > From: Jason Hernandez <[email protected]> > Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Conservation or just gardening? > To: [email protected] > Date: Monday, January 17, 2011, 5:08 PM > > > This question is inspired by a conversation with a former employer. When > do our > interventions cease to be conservation and become gardening? > > For the sake of argument, I was taking the purist position: that ideally, > we > want to be able to put a fence around a natural area and walk away, letting > nature manage it. But as my employer rightly pointed out, that is just not > a > realistic expectation in the 21st century, what with invasive species, > systemic > pollution, human pressures on surrounding areas, and countless other > factors > which will not go away. But of course, she also knew that there is a > degree of > intervention which crosses the line from conservation to gardening, that > is, > caring for a population that no longer participates in its ecosystem > processes. > > There is, of course, a continuum of interventions. Removal of invasive > competitors is a relatively light intervention; growing seedlings in a > greenhouse and then planting them out is more intensive; maintaining an in > vitro > germplasm collection still more intensive. Are there any recognized > criteria > for determining the boundary between conservation and gardening? And if a > species is beyond saving with conservation, how worthwhile is it to save > that > species with gardening? Can we determine when a species' only hope is > gardening? > > Jason Hernandez > Biological Science Technician, USDA Forest Service > > > > >
