Print PageThe way society conceives of conservation has evolved (i.e. in an analogical way to species evolution), over time in response to external, historical and intrinsic factors. The purpose of this paper is to first expose the reader to a brief definition and history of conservation from its ancient connotations in Europe and the Middle East to the more recent realization that overexploitation of our natural resources and game will cause a serious detriment to not only ourselves but to the generations of the future. Next, a trend-based analysis of peer-reviewed ISI-indexed journals was performed to scrutinize the patterns in the academic literature within the last 20 years, which revealed the main foci of current conservation research attempts and especially those areas being neglected. Finally, an analysis of the major non-profit, non-governmental organization (NGOs) contributors to setting the current global conservation priorities outlines the funding and ideals that go in to the decisions made around the world as to what will compose the targets of conservation. Understanding current conservation paradigms requires this historical and nuanced approach to deciding which strategy is best and which/whose values are being addressed.
Results/Conclusions
Key elements that were found to be missing from the majority of current approaches is the incorporation of people into the landscape, a condition explicitly a part of the UNESCO’s MaB Program which offers an integrated human/nature model that attempts to solidify socio-ecological sustainability and incorporate other human values in decision making.
