This paper discusses the controversial management decisions made by policy-makers worldwide regarding poisoning campaigns aimed to control small mammal populations, often considered harmful economic pests. Aside from ...This paper discusses the controversial management decisions made by policy-makers worldwide regarding poisoning campaigns aimed to control small mammal populations, often considered harmful economic pests. Aside from considerations re- garding the biological consequences of these campaigns, we argue that when society rejects all values of science and expertise then only badly supported and negligent decisions will be made about conservation and management issues. The extermination of small mammal species, some of which play crucial ecological roles in several regions of the world, is just an example of such discredit and misinformation. Without a strong commitment towards evidence-based policy-making, economic investments in re- search and development could be entirely compromised展开更多
文摘This paper discusses the controversial management decisions made by policy-makers worldwide regarding poisoning campaigns aimed to control small mammal populations, often considered harmful economic pests. Aside from considerations re- garding the biological consequences of these campaigns, we argue that when society rejects all values of science and expertise then only badly supported and negligent decisions will be made about conservation and management issues. The extermination of small mammal species, some of which play crucial ecological roles in several regions of the world, is just an example of such discredit and misinformation. Without a strong commitment towards evidence-based policy-making, economic investments in re- search and development could be entirely compromised
