Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 2
Ecological Science and Practice: Dialogues
Across Cultures and Disciplines
Sharon E. Kingsland
Abstract
Promoting earth stewardship entails re-examining economic arguments,
such as the “tragedy of the commons” logic, which are coercive, out of step with
cultural values, and often lack empirical support. A counter-example is the effort by
Chesapeake Bay watermen to resist privatization of the commons, while adopting
an alternative strategy more in keeping with their cultural values. Creating trust
between scientists and watermen has been diffi cult, however. Research from the
social sciences, notably by the late Elinor Ostrom and colleagues, and William
Burch Jr., suggests that human ecology can be developed in a way that is more
attuned to human values. Citizens have important roles in fostering good steward-
ship when they can mobilize support, as illustrated in Jane Jacobs's writing about
urban communities, and by citizen-led creation of a nature reserve in Toronto,
Canada. Two challenges in promoting earth stewardship are to create trust between
scientifi c experts and resource users, and to create an academic culture that values
interaction between scholarly disciplines.
Keywords
Biocultural
conservation
Common-pool
resources
Ecological
economics Tragedy of the commons Urban ecology
Promoting earth stewardship
1
involves enhancing public understanding of the eco-
systems of our world and how they support us. Too often our dependence on these
systems comes to our attention only in a crisis, as happened during the American
Dust Bowl of the 1930s, a stunning example of the collapse and loss of ecosystem
services that prompted the U.S. Department of Agriculture to pay more attention to
soil conservation and curbing the bad habits of over-plowing, over-grazing, and
over-cutting of timber. Two generations later we express our debt to nature and duty
to future generations when we assert the importance of protecting ecosystems so as
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