The role of wilderness in nature conservation

Abstract

Executive summary - Main conclusions: ‘Wilderness’ has been criticised on a number of levels, viz. that it: · is only a cultural concept · has no objective, empirical and hence scientific basis · is irrelevant to nature conservation in general, and biodiversity conservation of in particular Additionally: · wilderness areas tend to be spectacular icon areas that are protected at the expense of more threatened and smaller habitat areas · the conservation of biodiversity is ultimately dependent on off-reserve management rather than wilderness areas, there being a fundamental limit to the amount of land that can be reserved · because humans have inhabited Australia continuously for at least 40,000-50,000 years ‘wilderness’ has little or no relevance · biodiversity conservation requires a focus on the habitat of rare, endangered and threatened species, whose distributions may not be represented in ‘wilderness areas’. The validity of these criticisms is very dependent on matters of definition.