The latest issue of the Cambridge Alumni Magazine has a section on biodiversity conservation. Nothing at all on agrobiodiversity, alas, but a footnote did send me to an interesting video of Prof. William Sutherland talking about “evidence-based conservation.” 1 He also says nothing specifically about the importance of conserving agricultural biodiversity — which is ironic given that the opening example in his talk concerns the nutritional importance of the fruit of a cultivated species — but I think his thesis is generally applicable. And that thesis is, paraphrasing somewhat, that there are too many meta-narratives in conservation and not enough data. 2 He’s put together a website where experimental evidence for and against the efficacy of specific interventions aimed at solving specific conservation problems can be documented and discussed.
- Prof. Sutherland was also behind the article horizon-scanning biodiversity threats which we nibbled a few days back.
- Ok, that is itself a meta-narrative. Or a meta-meta-narrative? My head hurts.