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Ecosystem Services—A Key Step Forward or Anthropocentrism’s ‘Trojan Horse’ in Conservation?

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Abstract

As an ecologist, I well remember when the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment came out in 2005. I found it exciting, as here was a definitive report of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) that showed that humanity was ‘living beyond its means’. It focused on the term ‘ecosystem services’ (here truncated to ES). It seemed promising, for here was a term (grounded in environmental science) that showed how society depended on all the services and benefits nature provides us for free.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. PANGEA Research Centre, BEES, UNSW, Kensington, Australia

    Haydn Washington

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  1. Haydn Washington
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Correspondence to Haydn Washington .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Leiden University, Institute Cultural Anthropology Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Helen Kopnina

  2. Kensington Campus , Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Haydn Washington

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Washington, H. (2020). Ecosystem Services—A Key Step Forward or Anthropocentrism’s ‘Trojan Horse’ in Conservation?. In: Kopnina, H., Washington, H. (eds) Conservation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13905-6_6

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