548 Julia P. G. Jones and E. J. Milner‐Gulland
Decisions about how resources are allocated are inherently political, and Bill has powerfully exposed this fact and chal- lenged others to recognize it. This approach is highlighted by an article that Bill co-authored (Büscher et al., 2017), which points out the implications of calls from prominent conservationists to set aside 50% of the planet for nature. This issue fractures conservation as a discipline, and Bill’s writing on the topic (and other controversial issues such as biodiversity offsetting; Apostolopoulou & Adams, 2017) highlights the implications of the choices conservationists make both for equity and for nature itself. One piece of Bill’s writing thatwe particularly enjoy is his
searing satire on the future of biodiversity conservation (Adams, 2010). Conservation plc takes the form of an ima- gined after dinner speech at the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in 2030. Ridiculous acronyms parodying international conservation NGOs, digs at the corporatization of conservation, and pain- fully close-to-the-bone characterizations of conservation failures are plentiful. At its heart, this piece is about the future conservationists want and are working towards. It starts with a statement from the last remaining orangutan (named Compassion) who lives in a specially constructed enclosure with 24-hour veterinary surveillance. While the audience in 2030 value this last survivor of its species, the piecemakes it clear how tragic an endling is: simply avoiding extinction in the strictest sense is a pathetically unambitious target.
The most effective criticism comes from a position of love
Bill is not simply a critical social scientist pointing out con- servation’s flaws from the side lines. Rather, he engages with making the practice of conservation better and therefore un- derstands what makes up the sector: its people, institutions and history. This proximity, and affection, allows him to hold up a mirror to conservation and its practices without judgement. By being an insider, Bill can ask tough questions about our behaviour, such as the tendency of conservation- ists to fly around the world. In a piece that starts with an in- formal discussion between colleagues and pivots to discuss an upcoming major IUCN report on sustainability that Bill led, he gently but firmly shows conservationists that we can- not ignore our own contribution to environmental degrad- ation—again before anyone else was writing in this way (Adams, 2008). Many of us are still torn as to what changes to make to our own lives in the face of the nature and climate emergency. Bill’s thoughts bear repeating: ‘Wehave tomake the issue of a transition to sustainability central to our fight for nature, just as wemake nature the centre of the push for
sustainability. Anything else is wilfully tunnel-visioned and ultimately self-defeating. Anything else is, surely, simply immoral’ (p. 70). More than 15 years later, it is depressing that we do not yet have a clear path forward. Bill’s genius is that he builds an argument and lets the
reader join the dots. This leaves the reader feeling cleverer than they felt before—as if they themselves have uncovered the insights whilst reading. We hope this editorial and the associated virtual issue of Oryx articles will encourage new readers to delve into the treasure trove that is Bill’s work. This includes his editorial for this issue (Adams, 2024), in which he reflects on Oryx, how the changing world of con- servation has been reflected in its pages, and urges us to be better conservationists. Bill’s most recent book (Redford & Adams, 2021) is fo-
cused on the future. As ever, Bill continues to look over the horizon, at the way conservation is changing, or needs to change. Conservation scholars, policy makers and practitioners will all benefit from Bill’s continued insights as society navigates the huge environmental challenges we face.
This Editorial and the Oryx articles cited are available as a vir- tual issue at
cambridge.org/core/journals/oryx/virtual-issues.
References
ADAMS,W.M. (2004) Against Extinction: The Story of Conservation. Routledge, Abingdon-on-Thames, UK.
ADAMS,W.M. (2007) Thinking like a Human: social science and the two cultures problem. Oryx, 41, 275–276.
ADAMS,W.M. (2008) Conservation, carbon and transition to sustainability. Oryx, 42, 469–470.
ADAMS,W.M. (2010) Conservation plc. Oryx, 44, 482–484. ADAMS,W.M. (2015) The political ecology of conservation conflicts. In Conflicts in Conservation: Navigating Towards Solutions (eds S.M. Redpath, K.A. Wood, R.J. Gutiérrez & J.C. Young), pp. 64–78. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
ADAMS,W.M. (2024) Homo conservationensis. Oryx, 58, 545–546. ADAMS,W.M. & HULME,D.(2001) If community conservation is the answer in Africa, what is the question? Oryx, 35, 193–200.
ADAMS,W.M. & MULLIGAN,M.(2003) Decolonizing Nature: Strategies for Conservation in a Post-colonial Era. Earthscan Publications, London, UK.
ADAMS,W.M., AVELING, R., BROCKINGTON, D., DICKSON, B., ELLIOTT, J., HUTTON, J. et al. (2004) Biodiversity conservation and the eradication of poverty. Science, 306, 1146–1149.
APOSTOLOPOULOU,E.&ADAMS,W.M. (2017) Biodiversity offsetting and conservation: reframing nature to save it. Oryx. 23–31.
BÜSCHER, B., FLETCHER, R., BROCKINGTON, D., SANDBROOK, C., ADAMS,W.M., CAMPBELL, L. et al. (2017) Half-Earth or Whole Earth? Radical ideas for conservation, and their implications. Oryx, 51, 407–410.
REDFORD, K.H.&ADAMS,W.M. (2021) Strange Natures: Conservation in The Era of Synthetic Biology. Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut, USA.
Oryx, 2024, 58(5), 547–548 © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605324001273
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