The new conservation debate: The view from practical ethics

Can communities close to Bui National Park mediate the impacts of Bui Dam construction? An exploration of the views of some selected households

“…Some adverse effects of the Bui Dam include loss of community lands such as farmlands, loss of both food and cash crops, an increase in the cost of conducting some livelihood activities such as fishing, and the influx of migrants who compete for available opportunities in community livelihoods. The study results is similar to the arguments advanced by several literature (Ofori-Amanfo, 2005;Dzodzi, 2006;Cave et al, 2010;Miller, 2011;Ansar et al, 2014;Chen et al, 2016;Fernside, 2016). The Bui study also confirms the results of WCD (2000), Galipean et al (2013) and Nusser (2014), by showing that dams can negatively affect livelihoods of people and families living near dams, and those who in some cases have gone through resettlements.…”

“…Dams can adversely impact water resources (Zhang et al, 2008;Miller et al, 2011) including the construction of dams on the Mekong River that lead to the blocking of migratory routes of fish, extinction of some fish species, reduction in storage capacity due to reservoir sedimentation, and starvation of downstream channels (Piman et al, 2016). Experiences in Ghana also show that the development of the Akosombo Dam resulted in changes in the natural environment, destruction of plants, animals and other living organisms, and alteration of the chemical chemistry of some water bodies with attendant increase in the incidence of water borne diseases such as bilhazia, malaria and hookworm (Kalitsi, 2004).…”

Environmental ethics and future oriented transformation to sustainability in Sub-Saharan Africa

“…By and large, environmental ethics offers a broad menu of moral 131 frameworks that can enhance awareness and transparent communication between a wide range of 132 environmental sustainability stakeholders (Randall, 2013 (Thompson, 1996). However, researchers have recently paired ethics with normative dimensions 146 arguing that efforts to support sustainability are rooted in ethical foundations of non-147 anthropocentrism, preservationism, enlightened anthropocentrism, and social justice theories 148 drawn from both the natural and social sciences (Miller et al 2011). 149 150 Often, the science and policy community pays more attention to the conventional principles and 151 institutions such as national, regional or international environmental standards and multilateral 152 protocols, neglecting socio-ecologically useful indigenous knowledge systems, including 153 environmental ethics (Hayden, 2012).…”

Identifying the role of conservation biology for solving the environmental crisis

“…Ethical dimensions were initially raised as the basic foundation for environmental concern, where early environmentalists raised primarily philosophical arguments related to wilderness esthetics and moral obligations to protect it (Nash 1989). However, an ethical approach to conservation values could lead to conservation goals that are not compatible with human development and welfare (McShane et al 2011), and ethical dimensions of the current conservation debates are inadequately developed (Miller et al 2011). Furthermore, the ethical dimension of the destruction of natural resources is a topic of such breadth and complexity that it warrants a discussion beyond the scope of this article.…”