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The 's Ecosystem Management : Adaptive, Community Based Conservation Essay

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Two texts were reviewed: Chapter 2 of Meffe, et al.’s Ecosystem Management: Adaptive, Community-based Conservation (2002) and excerpts from Weddell’s Conserving living natural resources in the context of a changing world (2002) in order to compare and contrast ideas presented by the two authors. Generally, Meffe et al. (2002) and Weddell (2002) use different terms but present many of the same ideas. First, that it is useful to learn about the perspectives and philosophies that have contributed to modern-day environmental management. Second, that ‘environmental management’ is not a new concept nor a static concept. And third, that the new phase of environmental management - what both authors identify as ecosystem management - is and ought to be more inclusive in every way. The authors agree that a knowledge of philosophies and techniques used in the past is necessary to be an effective environmental manager. According to Weddell (2002), “it is more useful for students and managers to learn about the historical conditions that gave rise to different strategies for resource stewardship and the strengths and weaknesses of each, than to study a single approach as the only correct one” (p.xi). According to Meffe et al. (2002), “to effectively map a course into [the] future, we must clearly understand where we have been” (pp.57). In both readings, streams of environmental management that the authors feel have significantly contributed to modern day practice are discussed. Weddell
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