Merging Economics and Ecology in Ecological Restoration
The late Kenneth Boulding contended, “Mathematics brought rigor to economics. Unfortunately it also brought mortis.” Although it would be fair to say that economics is not the only discipline suffering from this type of rigor mortis, the public’s disappoi
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Merging Economics and Ecology in Ecological Restoration Yeon-Su Kim and Evan E. Hjerpe
The late Kenneth Boulding contended, “Mathematics brought rigor to economics. Unfortunately it also brought mortis.” Although it would be fair to say that economics is not the only discipline suffering from this type of rigor mortis, the public’s disappointment with mainstream economic theory has been more pronounced because of mainstream economic failures in solving real-life problems (Blag 1998; Wilson 1998; Gowdy 2000). Even the 1996 Nobel Laureate of Economics, William Vickrey, dismissed his prize-winning 1961 paper as “one of my digressions into abstract economics. . . . At best, it’s of minor significance in terms of human welfare” (Cassidy 1996, 50). Is the future of the dismal science that dismal? We argue not, precisely because of the earlier self-reflections prompted by the chorus of critics. “Those scholars working on the frontiers of economics have firmly put behind them the inward-looking reductionism” and, as a result, economics is enjoying a “remarkable creative renaissance” refocusing its efforts to help solve real-life problems (Coyle 2007). The emergence of ecological economics in the late 1980s is a good example of this renaissance. Its clear focus is to help answer the questions that really matter, such as, How can we humans, as a species, have a long and happy life? Currently, many problems that humans encounter, and which we try to repair through efforts such as ecological restoration, have been attributed to past management actions that have dramatically altered ecosystems. For example, ponderosa pine ecosystems were rapidly changed by livestock grazing, high-grade logging, fire suppression, and some forms of recreation during the last 120 years in the American Southwest (ERI 2008). Many unintended ecological consequences of these altered ecosystems have been well documented (e.g., Covington and Moore 1994) and, as in numerous other degraded landscapes, ecological restoration has been proposed to help return these ecosystems to a healthier, more natural trajectory. However, the public and even many conservationists view ecological restoration as “an expensive self-indulgence for the upper class” (Kirby 1994, 240) or “a diversion, a delusion and . . . a waste of money” (Aronson et al. 2006a). If advocates of ecological restoration are to convince their critics and gain broader support, they need to better incorporate socioeconomic and political
D. Egan (eds.), Human Dimensions of Ecological Restoration: Integrating Science, Nature, and Culture, 191 The Science and Practice of Ecological Restoration, DOI 10.5822/978-1-61091-039-2_14, © Island Press 2011
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power: restoration economics
perspectives as well as greater scientific foundations in restoration projects (Jordan 2003; Choi 2007; Temperton 2007). In other words, ecological economics has much to contribute to, and learn from, restoration ecology and ecological restoration. This chapter introduces the lessons learned in the field of ecological eco
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