By Brandt Mannchen

David Johns has written a “whale” of a book that strikes at the heart of conservation:  Are we winning? Why not? and how do we change and go in the right direction?

Johns is an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Portland State University and a continental scale conservation practitioner.  He has degrees in law and political science and is co-founder of The Wildlands Project and Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiatives.

“Conservation Politics” is a revision and revamps papers he has published over the past 15 years.  His analysis is “deep”, and his remedies are relevant.  But his conclusion is sobering:  Conservation is failing, and we must correct this to focus on and save all life on Earth.  Johns concern about millions of other life forms, other than humans, rings the bell of freedom for saving biodiversity.

His approach appears to be based upon “biophilia”, the innate human tendency to interact or be close to other forms of life in nature and “biocentrism”, an ethical viewpoint that recognizes and protects the inherent value and rights of all living things.

The Earth is not a human world but a biocentric one where all organisms count and have rights.  We must “reorder human societies and make them compatible with wild places and creatures.”    

His analysis is that obstacles to conservation are political and not scientific.  He believes, as many scientists do today, that at least half the Earth must be set aside for all other living things and their communities, as well as 30 to 40% of the ocean environment.  The main causes of biodiversity decrease are growth in human population and consumption.

Currently, conservation is operated via an “insider strategy” which includes professional lobbying and staffs, a fundraising focus, and little grassroots action by members in the battle for the Earth.

This has not worked.  We are losing the battle to protect biodiversity as humans consume more of the Earth for their desires.  Science, check-writers, and email writers are not enough.  Politics, which we must engage in and win, is about the use of carrots and sticks played in a decisive and intelligent manner. 

Johns believes that we must concentrate on an “outsider strategy” that mobilizes groups, brings pressure via mass protest, non-cooperation, direction action, and the creation of alternative stories or myths and new institutions.  Johns insists that the only thing that has brought major change is this “outsider strategy”.  We must address causes, not symptoms.

Although tough to read emotionally, this book should be read by all who care about biodiversity and human survival that is linked to saving the Earth and all living things.  We cannot live on this Earth alone.  Ours is a shared “community” and we all must make it together.  Anything else degrades the Earth, biodiversity, our morality, and our soul.

Read “Conservation Politics:  The Last Anti-Colonial Battle" by David Johns, Cambridge University Press 2019, and begin the resurrection and rejuvenation of your life!