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SUMMARY:What counts as threatened? Population biology\, objectivity and th
 e sixth extinction - Jon Agar (UCL)
DTSTART:20140303T130000Z
DTEND:20140303T141500Z
UID:TALK49825@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Natalie Lawrence
DESCRIPTION:This paper traces how quantitative science was mobilised in re
 sponse to one of the greatest modern environmental crises: the global\, hu
 man-caused mass extinction of animals and plants. For conservation measure
 s it was essential to know what organisms were extinct\, threatened\, mere
 ly rare\, or relatively safe from threat. In the 1960s the International U
 nion for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) began compiling and publishing 
 its Red Data Books of threatened species. From the 1970s the Convention on
  International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
  began listing endangered species for which trade in products would be reg
 ulated. This paper will argue\, firstly\, that the criteria of the IUCN's 
 categories of threat were reformulated in the 1990s on the basis of quanti
 tative population biology. The justification of this being a more 'objecti
 ve' and practical approach was disputed by critics. Secondly\, a combinati
 on of the championing of the quantitative approach by the IUCN and the tra
 de agendas of Southern African countries led to a similar redefinition of 
 the CITES criteria. Considered as a whole\, these episodes present rich ca
 se studies in the advantages and disadvantages of appealing to quantitativ
 e science to aid international governance.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 1\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science
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