title: What is the value of historical fidelity in restoration?
abstract: The following considers the role of historical fidelity in habitat reconstruction efforts. To what extent should habitat reconstruction be guided by the goal of recreating some past state of a damaged ecosystem? I consider Sarkar's "replacement argument," which holds that, in most habitat reconstruction efforts, there is little justification for appealing to historical fidelity. I argue that Sarkar does not provide adequate grounds for deprecating historical fidelity relative to other natural values such as biodiversity or wild nature.
authors.affiliation: Department of Philosophy, Hunter College of the City University of New York, 695 Park Ave., New York, NY 10065, United States. Electronic address: jgarson@hunter.cuny.edu.
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Garson
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D017753:Ecosystem; D006040:Goals; D008093:Literature, Modern
keywords: Ecological restoration; Ecosystem restoration; Environmental philosophy; Historical fidelity