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Title
From bottleneck to breakthrough: Urbanization and the future of biodiversity conservation
Author(s)
Sanderson, Eric W.;Walston, Joseph;Robinson, John G.
Published
2018
Publisher
BioScience
Published Version DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biy039
Abstract
For the first time in the Anthropocene, the global demographic and economic trends that have resulted in unprecedented destruction of the environment are now creating the necessary conditions for a possible renaissance of nature. Drawing reasonable inferences from current patterns, we can predict that 100 years from now, the Earth could be inhabited by between 6 and 8 billion people, with very few remaining in extreme poverty, most living in towns and cities, and nearly all participating in a technologically driven, interconnected market economy. Building on the scholarship of others in demography, economics, sociology, and conservation biology, here, we articulate a theory of social–environmental change that describes the simultaneous and interacting effects of urban lifestyles on fertility, poverty alleviation, and ideation. By recognizing the shifting dynamics of these macrodrivers, conservation practice has the potential to transform itself from a discipline managing declines (“bottleneck”) to a transformative movement of recovery (“breakthrough”).
Keywords
demographic transition;poverty alleviation;cities;natural resources;consumption;population growth;world population;protected areas;human footprint;sustainability;livelihoods;Africa
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PUB24198