Indian Science for Indian Tigers?: Conservation Biology and the Question of Cultural Values
Journal of the History of Biology 38 (2):185 - 207 (2005)
| Abstract | The implementation of Project Tiger in India, 1973-1974, was justly hailed as a triumph of international environmental advocacy. It occurred as a growing number of conservation-oriented biologists were beginning to argue forcefully for scientifically managed conservation of species and ecosystems -- the same scientists who would, by the mid-1980s, call themselves conservation biologists. Although India accepted international funds to implement Project Tiger, it strictly limited research posts to Government of India Foresters, against the protests of Indian and US biologists who hoped to conduct the scientific studies that would lead to better management and thus more effective conservation of the tiger. The foresters were not trained to conduct research, and in fact did not produce any of significance for the first 15 years of Project Tiger's existence. The failure of biologists to gain access to India's tigers in the 1970s was caused by many factors, but not least among them was a history of disdain among conservation-oriented biologists for government officials managing reserves, and the local politics of conservation. Project Tiger, then, serves as a case study for the discussion of the intersection of conservation biology with non-scientific concerns, including nationalism and the desire of the Indian government to more completely control its land. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,705 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesK. S. Shrader-Frechette & E. D. Mccoy (1994). Biodiversity, Biological Uncertainty, and Setting Conservation Priorities. Biology and Philosophy 9 (2):167-195.
Anya Plutynski (2007). A Philosopher Goes Wild. [REVIEW] Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C 38 (1):289-296.
Stefan Linquist (2008). But is It Progress? On the Alleged Advances of Conservation Biology Over Ecology. Biology and Philosophy 23 (4):529-544.
Bryan G. Norton (2003). Searching for Sustainability: Interdisciplinary Essays in the Philosophy of Conservation Biology. Cambridge University Press.
John Hintz (2007). Some Political Problems for Rewilding Nature. Ethics, Place and Environment 10 (2):177 – 216.
Sahotra Sarkar (2005). Biodiversity and Environmental Philosophy: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press.
Peter S. Alagona (2004). Biography of a "Feathered Pig": The California Condor Conservation Controversy. Journal of the History of Biology 37 (3):557 - 583.
Hanna Siurua (2006). Nature Above People: Rolston and "Fortress" Conservation in the South. Ethics and the Environment 11 (1):71-96.
Jane Carruthers (2008). Conservation and Wildlife Management in South African National Parks 1930s-1960s. Journal of the History of Biology 41 (2):203 - 236.
Jay Odenbaugh (2001). Ecological Stability, Model Building, and Environmental Policy: A Reply to Some of the Pessimism. Philosophy of Science 68 (S1):S493-.
Sungho Choi (2003). The Conserved Quantity Theory of Causation and Closed Systems. Philosophy of Science 70 (3):510-530.
William F. Vallicella (2002). The Creation–Conservation Dilemma and Presentist Four-Dimensionalism. Religious Studies 38 (2):187-200.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2011-05-29Total downloads3 ( #202,056 of 549,198 )Recent downloads (6 months)1 ( #63,397 of 549,198 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
