Values, credibility, and ethics: public advocacy and conservation science

Abstract

While it is important for conservation scientists to advise government on policy, they need to do more than give advice. Conservation scientists need to be public advocates for the creation of economies that are ecologically sustainable. To achieve sustainability conservation scientists must assume a role of leadership in the development and application of global environmental policies. Not all scientists agree with advocacy, but advocacy for conservation of the natural world means creating an ethical world, a world where all generations and people as well as all other species can share the Earth’s resources. At present that world does not exist and conservation scientists need to take a more active role in its creation.