Please join us for a talk on "The Great Conservation Tragedy? A critical reflection of neoprotectionism in relation to the ‘30×30’ global biodiversity framework" by Professor (Dr.) Bram Büscher, Wageningen University, to be held on Tuesday, 19 September 2023, 6:30 PM (IST)

Zoom meeting Link: https://zoom.us/j/99582039088?pwd=VlBjNSs2cmtjc1dQeEJmZm5pMEZQUT09

Abstract: The recent Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) under the Convention on Biological Diversity celebrated as one of its main outcomes ‘30×30’: the goal to bring 30 percent of the earth under conservation protection by 2030 to halt the extinction crisis. This is both a predictable and surprising outcome. Predictable because mainstream conservation built on (neo)protectionist logic has long lobbied for continued expansion of protected areas (PAs). It is also surprising: the steady expansion of PAs over the past century has not hindered the extinction crisis from intensifying over this same period, while it has been achieved against strong scholarly, indigenous and popular critiques of neoprotectionist logics. Given that these issues seriously question the potential effectiveness and legitimacy of 30×30, the question arises why neoprotectionist ideas remain so powerful in global conservation policy. The paper explores this question by providing a brief history of neoprotectionism and its critiques. It argues that an ignored element in the critique of (neo)protectionism is its rootedness in biological field research and the institutional value and power this carries in conservation circles. I theorize this power as grounded in a ‘love/threat dialectic’ where the need to protect loved natures becomes greater the more threatened they become. This dialectic is part of ‘the great conservation tragedy’ of our time, which eschews critical political-economic analysis and action for business-as-usual strategies that keep ‘failing forward’.