CFP: CFP Enrahonar Journal: "The Philosophical Limits of Biological Conservation"

CFP: Enrahonar Journal: "The Philosophical Limits of Biological Conservation".

Conservation biology is a discipline that emerged in the 1980s, together with the concept of biological diversity, and with the goal of bridging the gap between theory in ecology and evolutionary genetics, on the one hand, and conservation policy and practice, on the other. To this end, conservation has analyzed processes such as biodiversity loss, species extinction, or ecosystem alterations, and their negative effects on the capacity to sustain human well-being.
Although it is a key field of research to assess the state of nature and mitigate its degradation, philosophy can articulate various critiques. Conservation professionals often provide responses to the current biodiversity crisis based on ontological, epistemological, axiological, and ethical considerations. Nonetheless, these can be subject to debate.
For instance, the fact that certain individuals disappear irreversibly due to anthropogenic causes is scientifically proven, but it may be debatable whether these individuals belong to the same subspecies, whether subspecies de-extinction is possible and reasonable, or to what extent such disappearance is morally acceptable if it enables improvements in other forms of life. Furthermore, a philosophical approach to biological conservation invites us to pose complex questions such as: Should conservation biology be regarded as an objective science if it relies on the premise of an inherent value of nature? Do conservationists introduce biases when endorsing policies and measures based on qualitative descriptions such as “habitat degradation,” “ecological integrity,” “invasive” or “native species,” “healthy ecosystems,” and “keystone” or “vulnerable” species? How are some conservation measures justified in order to preserve biodiversity, wilderness, or non-human autonomy? How do we define the ontological boundaries of an individual, a species, or an ecosystem?
In short, this special issue seeks to receive interdisciplinary papers that explore and discuss, from epistemology, ontology, and environmental ethics, what may be the philosophical limits of biological conservation. More specifically, contributions are invited to reflect on issues such as:

• Axiological pluralism in conservation: relations between intrinsic, instrumental, and relational values.
• Critique of traditional conservation theories, models, and practices.
• Ontological dualism of nature / human being.
• Aesthetic dimensions in our relationship with nature and in its management.
• Epistemic biases of conservation and conceptions of environment, ecological wholes (biosphere, ecosystems, biomes, species), ecological functions, and natural behavior.
• Ethical tensions between conservation and animal ethics: new approaches from welfare biology or from compassionate conservation.
• Implications of the concept of ecosystem services for global health, environmental health, and One Health perspectives.
• Sociocultural debates among different conservation biology strategies: ecological restoration, rewilding, new conservationisms.
• Challenges regarding the use of new technologies to reverse or mitigate the effects of species de-extinction: artificial pollinators, cloning, artificial selection, synthetic biology.
• Analysis of the urban / rural dichotomy from political ecology, socio-environmental justice, and concerns about ecosocial inequalities.
• Graduality and ontological delimitation among biological entities (genes – individuals – species – ecosystems) and taxonomic classifications.
• Ecofeminist thought and biological conservation.
• Normative approaches to biological triage from conceptual frameworks such as utilitarianism, deontology, egalitarianism, prioritarianism, virtue ethics, and care ethics.

Manuscripts in Spanish, Catalan, and English will be accepted. The submission deadline is 31 March 2026. All submissions must be made through the journal’s platform. The issue will be published during the second half of 2026. For any questions, please contact the guest editor: Cristian Moyano-Fernández ([email protected]).