Conservation and naturalness

This chapter discusses several issues concerning the relationship between nature conservation and naturalness—understood both as a goal of conservation and as a standard by which its methods are judged. The first issue concerns the distinction between native and non-native species: whether it is conceptually well founded, whether it holds conservation value, and whether it is ethically defensible in light of considerations that go beyond strictly ecological concerns. The second issue addresses the value of copies: whether a historically faithful copy, as in some restoration efforts, or a functionally faithful one, as in rewilding, can be said to have conservation value—and how far efforts should go in re-creating nature. The third issue considers the role of biotechnology in conservation: whether such applications amount to techno-fixes, pose moral hazards, alter the idea of nature, or encourage an instrumental view of life. The final issue examines de-extinction and whether it can be meaningfully integrated into the broader project of conservation.