The Link Between

Ecology and Conservation

Prof Pat Dale,

Griffith School of Environment

p.dale@griffith.edu.au

 Ecology has played a major role in developing a conservation  ethos in Australia and providing the science behind it. Back in  the 1970s ecology was not recognized as a ‘discipline’ by  our  legal system. This was highlighted in the Terania Creek  logging controversy (sometimes termed the ‘rainforest wars’). Len Webb was a champion of the cause, but his expertise as  an ecologist (as opposed to botanist, soil scientists etc) was  not recognized by the Law courts and his evidence was  severely discounted.  Since then much has changed and ecology has a central role in, inter alia, environmental management, including, but not limited to, impact assessment, providing expert evidence and in advisory roles at all levels.

The evolution of ecology as an interdisciplinary mainstream area, accomplishes what, as a young person some 50 years ago, I thought was the core business of Geography. As a geographer, graduating in 1964, I was sorely disappointed by the silo approach evident within the discipline itself. It was not until 1979 that I discovered the integrated approach taken at Griffith University, by the then School of Australian Environmental Studies (now the Griffith School of Environment). There I found a range of sciences including ecology but none in isolation. This was an exciting time as many of us found the space to move across disciplines and find a comfort zone: for me this was in a broad ecological area, but not confined to it. It is most satisfying to see ecology now providing input into so many of the decisions that affect our planet.