Ecocentrism: what it is, why scientists & philosophers share in it

"The debate about why we ought to protect nature is much older than the field of conservation science." So say John J. Piccolo, Haydn Washington, Helen Kopnina, and Bron Taylor, in their paper: "Why conservation scientists should re‐embrace their ecocentric roots" in the journal Conservation Biology.

"Although ecosystem‐services arguments may play an important role in stemming the biodiversity crisis, a true transformation of humanity's relationship with nature ought to be based in part on ecocentric valuation. Conservation scientists have played a leading role in initiating this transformation, and they ought to continue to do so."


Read the paper at:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cobi.13067

Nature and the Serious Business of Joy

USFWS photo via Wikimedia Commons

Read about Rachel Carson's eloquent look at how we perceive the natural world in this article:

https://www.brainpickings.org/2018/06/07/michael-mccarthy-the-moth-snowstorm-nature-joy/

"There can be occasions when we suddenly and involuntarily find ourselves loving the natural world with a startling intensity, in a burst of emotion which we may not fully understand, and the only word that seems to me to be appropriate for this feeling is joy."

We've never needed this realization more than we do now.

let it take hold of you: The Overstory, by Richard Powers

If you read the first 15 pages of Richard Power's novel, The Overstory, I'm betting you won't turn back.

Read about it:
https://www.npr.org/2018/04/19/602903697/novelist-richard-powers-finds-new-stories-deep-in-old-growth-forests

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/apr/08/the-overstory-richard-powers-review

More on sustainable seafood

 "All reputable seafood guides are based on science. Take these three for example – Seafood Watch, the Safina Center at Stony Brook University's seafood ratings guide, and the Environmental Defense Fund's Seafood Selector. All three use scientific data from the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which relies on a team of more than 20 scientists who weigh factors like fish population, harm to habitat, harm to other species, and management practices to determine the sustainability of a fishery. These factors produce ratings of green (best), yellow (good alternative), or red (avoid). Despite this shared source of data, the guides offer similar but different advice."

 How to unpack this information:

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/03/15/520023117/i-want-to-eat-fish-responsibly-but-the-seafood-guides-are-so-confusing

Historical photo John Nathan Cobb; Wikim. Comm.

Seafood: know what you're buying and eating

This is an update to a post from 2016: http://ontothepath.blogspot.com/2016/06/seafood-where-does-yours-come-from-is.html

Human Rights and Seafood
 Learning about slavery and seafood in 2018:
 Was Your Seafood Caught With Slave Labor?
 https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/02/01/582214032/was-your-seafood-caught-with-slave-labor-new-database-helps-retailers-combat-abu

Sustainable Seafood

The Monterey Bay Aquarium SEAFOOD WATCH - Eco-certification
 https://www.seafoodwatch.org/seafood-recommendations/eco-certification

Greenpeace - Ensuring Sustainable Seafood
 https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/oceans/sustainable-seafood/