BIOrdinary: Dealing with Biodiversity Dilemmas in Ordinary Places

Seminar

Date: Thursday 7 November 2024

Time: 15.00 – 17.00

Location: Accelerator

Biodiversity and new perspectives on alien and migrant species are discussed in a conversation within the open seminar series of the Master's Programme in Environmental Humanities.

BIOrdinary. Photo: Yehunda Perutz

Tea plantation. Papua New Highlands of Guinea. The wide rows of tea bushes are due to the use of machines to harvest the leaves. Photo: Bengt G. Karlsson

Pacific oyster (Magallana gigas) reef in Geteviken, near Fiskebäckskil, Bohuslän in March 2024. The oyster reef has essentially clogged the shallow bay. Photo: Ivana Macek

Thermal fogging at a residential block in Singapore. Fogging is used to eradicate mosquitoes but kills all arthropods in the vicinity, precipitating what one urban farmer dubbed a “natural disaster” for insects. Photo: Tomas Cole

The research project BIOrdinary explores dilemmas around biodiversity in common places and so-called ‘invasive alien species’.

In this seminar, researchers Ivana Macek, Bengt G. Karlsson and Tomas Cole present the project and open up for discussion.

Open seminar

The open seminar series within the Master's Programme in Environmental Humanities is held at the university's exhibition space Accelerator, to create space for conversations between students, researchers and the public, across disciplines, with art as a conversation starter.

Abstract

The battle against so-called “invasive alien species” (IAS) rages on, and is being driven by recently articulated global biodiversity agendas. While the current United Nations Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) seeks to ensure that pristine, protected areas comprise 30 percent of the world’s total surface area by 2030, there remains much to be done for the remaining 70 percent: ordinary places, dominated by human habitat and industrial activities. Many non-native species have partly or wholly naturalized to these mixed ecosystems, becoming entangled in people’s livelihoods. Initiatives to not only aggressively eradicate such migrant species but also to enroll the help of citizens in doing so will likely meet with resistance. The Biordinary research project, therefore, investigates biodiversity dilemmas in ordinary places, where the cure is sometimes be worse than the disease; animal welfare standards may have to be sacrificed; and socioeconomic utility may have to be set aside. The project then advocates the need for an alternative perspective on biodiversity justice and the proper place of non-native and migrant species.

Theme