QnAs with Peter M. Kareiva

For his strident advocacy of people-centered conservation, aimed at striking a balance between economic and ecological interests, Peter Kareiva has been often cast as a maverick among environmentalists. Thanks to a growing infusion of science into conservation efforts in the 21st century, Kareiva, elected in 2011 to the National Academy of Sciences, says the environmental movement has come a long way since its birth two centuries ago. As chief scientist at The Nature Conservancy, a bastion for environmental interests, Kareiva helped launch a collaborative endeavor called the Natural Capital Project in 2006 to develop scientific tools to evaluate the costs and benefits of conserving natural resources in light of development goals. Kareiva discusses the project with PNAS.Peter M. Kareiva.> PNAS:How was the Natural Capital Project conceived?> Kareiva:The project began as a scientific workshop at the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis at the University of California, Santa Barbara. We set out to address aspects of tradeoff in the management of natural resources, to ascribe economic value to natural capital, and to determine the kind of input data required for natural resource management. The project is supported by funds from private donors and foundations, as well as through federal grants. It is a collaborative venture with Stanford University, the University of Minnesota, The …