Conservation, ecological justice and harm to nature - Environmental Harm: An Eco-justice Perspective - page 97

In other words, conservation without acknowledgement of traditional
human users, and their systemic contribution to biological diversity
and ecological wellbeing, is oppressive and counter-productive.
Conclusion: measuring the value of nature
The value of specific environments is measured differently according
to differing purposes and priorities. In most instances the beneficiary
and yardstick of such valuing is human interest. This occurs whether or
not the value of environments is based upon conservation principles,
whether it is gauged in relation to natural resource extraction, or
whether the value is determined in relation to loss of amenity.
For example, conventional criminological accounts of environmental
crime tend to see value in terms of natural resources, with measurement
calculated in terms of industries and the value of illegal income
generated by various environmental black markets related to wildlife
smuggling, illegal fishing, illegal logging and illegal garbage/hazardous
waste trafficking (see Liddick, 2011). While occasionally reference is
made to intrinsic values, it is human benefit that is a key driver in
environmental law enforcement and regulation.
In addition to the inherent value of the natural world
and its denizens for their own sake, concern for the
severe environmental damage caused by these illegal
industries implicates human health and prosperity across
a number of dimensions. Overharvesting, the decimation
of species, improper disposal of hazardous wastes, and loss
in biodiversity will negatively impact humans not only by
making the planet less habitable, but also by eliminating
or reducing natural resources that, when used prudently,
advance the human condition - the development of
medicines being one prominent example. (Liddick, 2011: 5)
Ecological wellbeing is thus construed primarily in terms of what
nature can do for us rather than what we can do for nature.
Value assessments are also made in relation to general rather than
specific environmental damage. For example, the impact of plastic in the
oceans can be measured in monetary and other quantitative terms. The
impact to human communities includes costs related to loss of fishing
opportunities due to time spent cleaning litter from nets, propellers
and blocked water intakes; navigational hazards and expenses related