Resourcism and preservationism in New Zealand forestry: an end to the dichotomy?

Authors: C. J. K. Perley
Publication: New Zealand Journal of Forestry, Volume N.Z.J.For. 2003, Issue N.Z.J.For. 48(2) 2003, pp 11-17, Aug 2003
Publisher: New Zealand Institute of Forestry

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Abstract: This paper discusses two major schools of thought in environmental philosophy in New Zealand forestry - resourcism and preservationism. The historical processes of exploitation and the five paradigms (wilderness preservation/reserves, ecosystem management or sustainable management, multiple use and sustainable yield, sustainable yield cropping, and mining/liquidation) of forest management associated with resource management in New Zealand, are also discussed. The attributes (viz., philosophy, perceived organization, causation, uncertainty, human-nature relationship and decision making) of systemic and mechanistic approaches to landscape ecology and the paradigm shift in ecology are examined. The New Zealand has developed an allocation model to resource management that emphasizes ecological determinism, economic determinism and utilitarian ethic toward people and the environment. The result has been a strengthening of two extreme paradigms - preservationism in the guise of peopleless reserves, and resourcism in the guise of plantation forestry that is focused on agronomic fibre production alone, independent of a social or ecological context. The emerging trends bringing into question the assumptions underlying ecological and economic determinism are also discussed.

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