A Defense of Integrity as a Conservation Concept

In this paper, I consider in detail one proposal specifying the nature we should care about, namely, biological or ecological integrity (or “integrity” for short). In its paradigmatic formulation, integrity refers to a property of landscapes that are relatively unmodified by human activity and that have their native biota largely intact. After making several conceptual clarifications regarding how integrity is best understood, including some qualifications of the paradigmatic characterization, I consider and defuse three objections to the concept and its normative relevance. In the course of my discussion, I explore and defend epistemological, instrumental, and non-instrumental reasons to care about integrity. I conclude with a consideration of some challenges that remain for the aim of respecting integrity as an ethical-political goal.