The Law and Ethics of Assisted Migration
Alex Camacho, Director, UCI Law Center for Land, Environment, and Natural Resources, University of California, Irvine
To avoid extinctions and other harms to ecological health from
escalating climatic change, scientists, resource managers, and activists
are considering and even engaging in "assisted migration" - the
intentional movement of an organism to an area in which its species has
never existed. In this talk, I explore the profound implications of
climate change for American natural resource management through the
lens of this controversial adaptation strategy. I detail arguments
regarding the scientific viability and legality of assisted migration
under the thicket of laws that govern natural resources in the United
States. I explain why contemporary natural resource law’s fidelity to
historic baselines, protecting preexisting biota, and shielding nature
from human activity is increasingly untenable, particularly in light of climate change. Active, anticipatory strategies such as assisted
migration may not only be permissible but even necessary to avert
substantial irreversible harm to ecological systems. Scientists and
resource managers should focus on developing scientific data to aid
analyses of the risks and benefits of assisted migration in particular
circumstances. To help develop such data while minimizing ecological
harm, I propose provisionally limiting experimental translocations to
situation where translocation is technically and economically feasible, and where the species is endangered, ecologically valuable, and compatible with the proposed site.
Presentation Video
