Conservation in the Internet Age: Threats And Opportunities

The Internet and advanced logistics are enabling new changes on the landscape, with both positive and negative impacts on our efforts to conserve land and biodiversity. Emerging technologies have led to tremendous innovations in conservation science and resource management as well as education and advocacy efforts. At the same time, new networks have been powerful enablers of decentralization, facilitating sprawling development into previously undesirable or inaccessible areas. This volume offers a cross-disciplinary perspective on critical changes on the land and in the field of conservation. It: provides a general overview of the impact of new technologies and networks; explores the potentially disruptive impacts of the new networks on open space and biodiversity; presents case studies of innovative ways that conservation organizations are using the new networks to pursue their missions; and considers how rapid change in the Internet age creates the potential for landmark conservation initiatives. The work examines the links among land use, technology and conservation from multiple perspectives, and suggests areas and initiatives that merit further investigation. It offers insight into the challenges facing the land and biodiversity conservation community.