In chapter 10, the final chapter of the Rambunctious Garden, Emma Marris outlines seven major goals of conservation. The purpose is to point out that no single goal provides a solution; we need to give up the idea of pristine wilderness and work around these major goals outlined by her. Every piece of land is different; therefore we must apply a combination of various different methods to each situation.
Goal One: Protect the Rights of other Species. The first goal emphasizes deep ecology, i.e. looking after all living species because they have intrinsic value. We shouldn’t be concerned about conservation only because that species benefits humans at the end. However, the problem comes in when dealing with rights of one animal over another. The idea of intrinsic value differs based on perspectives therefore results in some problems when dealing with invasive species.
Goal Two: Protecting the Charismatic Megafauna. The second goal emphasizes the human love for large mammals with large eyes. As humans, we love some species more than others based on their appearance, such as dolphins, tigers, pandas etc. Even though, the idea of saving species based on human love for them seems unethical, studies have shown that larger animals often form the keystone species therefore their survival is critical to the maintenance of that ecosystem.
Goal Three: Slow the Rate of Extinctions. The third goal emphasizes the extinction value of species. For this goal, Marris talks about mathematical ecology, which uses algorithms to model the practicality and financial burden of saving one species vs. another. Using such an approach can result in humans losing species that they really love, as well as mirrors breeding because efficiency is stressed out.
Goals Four: Protect Genetic diversity. The third goal focuses on the concept of species. Often times a population is genetically far more different, than another closely related species. As a result, the importance preserving genetic diversity as opposed to just species comes in. It allows for greater complexity of life and helps with the process of evolution. Genetic diversity represents millions of years of evolutionary activity; hence protecting it is highly important. However the idea questions the value of the individual species. Is an animal only important because of its varied gene pool? In that case genetic diversity can simply be preserved in laboratories. As a result, in her fifth goal Marris outlines definition of biodiversity and why it’s important.
Goal 6: Maximize ecological services & Goal 7: Protect the spiritual and aesthetic experience of nature, present contrasting point of views. Maximizing ecological services mirrors an economic approach of maximizing profit, where finite resources are implemented in such a way that the output is the greatest. Ecological services are estimated at billions of dollars, therefore it does make sense to follow that. However, maximizing services doesn’t necessarily guarantee aesthetics. On the contrary, protecting the spiritual and aesthetic experience of nature focuses on the emotional response we get from looking at nature that often various from person to person. Both goals 6 and 7 are rather extreme and something, which is a combination, would be a more acceptable.
Marris sums up her book with the notion that a single approach is not adequate to utilize every form of land and forming rambunctious gardens. Hence, she provides 7 goals which can be used for conservation.
