Nature, Conservation and Society

Conservation planners and managers must contend with important questions about competing priorities and strategies. Which species should we protect? What should be the objectives for the conservation of an ecosystem? How should we balance multiple values of a site, and which sites should be prioritised for protection or conservation action? Which conservation practices and tools will best achieve the intended outcomes? The answers to these questions depend not only on the biological and physical characteristics of ecological systems, but on human relationships with nature.