Conservation
biology belongs to natural sciences however, conservation biology intends to go
beyond being a pure scientific field and seeks to have an impact on nature
conservation.
There are
many questions relevant to conservation biologists, which need the
participation of social scientists, e.g.: What is behind the conflicts of
hunters, other land users and nature conservationists? What is the motivation
of farmers to engage in agri-environmental schemes? Can we calculate the
benefits of ecosystem services, such as pollination in a certain biodiversity
rich area in economic terms?
In this
conference many presentations referred to social-ecological systems which can be a powerful conceptual framework to
discuss nature conservation issues both from scientific and from management
point of view. It opens room for interdisciplinary research and science-policy plus
science-society dialogue. Involvement of
stakeholders in conservation management and good governance were also among the
frequently used terms.
Many
sessions included social science perspectives as well: e.g. conservation in the
socio-economic context, land sharing-land sparing, ecosystem services, nature
conservation in agricultural areas, just to mention a few. Some of the speakers
in these sessions were social
scientists.
I think
social scientist could learn a lot from natural scientists in this conference,
and I hope that the presentations given by social scientists were also useful
for natural scientists. The dialogue has started.
Eszter Kovács, PhD
Economist
Szt István University, Hungary
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