Shepherding Nature: The Challenge of Conservation Reliance

Globally, more and more species are at risk of extinction as the environment and climate change. Many of these species require long-term management to persist - they are conservation-reliant. The magnitude of this challenge requires a rethinking of how conservation priorities are determined and a broader societal commitment to conservation. Choices need to be made about which species will be conserved, for how long, and by whom. This volume uses case studies and essays by conservation practitioners from throughout the world to explore what conservation reliance is and what it means for endangered-species management. Chapters consider threats to species and how they are addressed, legal frameworks for protecting endangered species, societal contexts and conflicts over conservation goals, and how including conservation reliance can strengthen methods for prioritizing species for conservation. The book concludes by discussing how shepherding nature requires an evaluation of societal values and ethics.

Table of Contents:
1. Extinction and the challenge of conservation reliance; 2. The conservation spectrum; 3. The genesis of conservation reliance and the language of conservation; 4. What are the threats; 5. Emerging threats in a rapidly changing world; 6. The role of policy and law; 7. What's in the conservationist's toolbox: species-centered approaches; 8. Expanding the conservationist's toolbox: going beyond species; 9. Conservation reliance is a human issue; 10. Making tough decisions: prioritizing species for conservation; 11. Being a good shepherd; Appendices; Author biographies; References; Index.

About the Author :
J. Michael Scott was a Research Biologist with the US Fish and Wildlife Service for thirty-seven years, leading research programs on forest birds of the Hawaiian Islands and the California Condor. He served as Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit Leader and Professor of Wildlife at the University of Idaho, where he is an Emeritus Distinguished Professor. His research has emphasized conservation, endangered-species policy, and landscape ecology. John A. Wiens is an Emeritus University Distinguished Professor at Colorado State University and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Australia. After thirty-six years in academia, he served for six years as Lead/Chief Scientist with the Nature Conservancy and then for four years as Chief Scientist with PRBO Conservation Science in California. His research on landscape ecology, conservation, and the ecology of birds has led to many publications. Beatrice Van Horne was a professor for seventeen years at Colorado State University, where her research focused on population biology of terrestrial vertebrates. Subsequently she was a National Program Leader in areas related to wildlife, fisheries, climate change, and forest fire for the US Forest Service and the US Geological Survey. Most recently she led the Northwest Climate Hub for the Department of Agriculture. Dale D. Goble is an Emeritus University Distinguished Professor and the Margaret Wilson Schimke Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Idaho. His research interests are in natural resource law (including public land law and wildlife law), natural resource history, and torts. He has coauthored several books on the Endangered Species Act and a comprehensive primer on wildlife law.

Review :
'Long-term commitments and careful attention to relationships with human societies are going to be critical for the successful preservation of many species in coming decades. This book, written by leading practitioners, provides timely and expert guidance for conservation planning.' Georgina Mace, University College London 'I've been working my way through Shepherding Nature, and it's hard to imagine a better book for the topic. The authors provide some frameworks for thinking, analyzing factors that threaten (single or multiple, expected or unexpected), case studies that are each rather unique in threat, response, and outcome, connecting ecology with policy and management, and then great essays by people engaged with the cases, putting a very human face on the stories. The book has both a paradigm about how the future of species will develop (conservation reliance - what is it, how to think about it, how to engage in it) and the evidence-based case studies that show how different cases are (but thereby giving some insights in to the general questions and challenges that are common across them). It's hard to know how much difference a book can make, but if a book can make a difference in this arena, this is the one that the authors have written. By the time I was done I realized the book didn't rely on any ecological concepts - its approach was thoroughly evidence based. That gave me a smile.' Dan Binkley, School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University