"This volume tells the story of an alliance between key institutions in six cities. It traces a ground-breaking collaboration between libraries and zoos working together to bring one of humanity's geatest tools--poetic language--to the service of conservation."--Page 4 of cover

Humans pose an unprecedented threat to life in all its great diversity of forms. The human-induced extinction rate has been compared to “mass extinctions” of the past. But this language masks the fact that the crisis is due to voluntary, and thus, avoidable choices and actions. “Speaking of Forms of Life” shows that at the root of this crisis is the tragic inadequacy of the language predominantly used to represent and address what we are doing, including the language of “sustainable development,” “rights” for animals and the rest of nature, their “intrinsic value,” and conservation of species as “populations.” This talk alienates us from the other living things, from what they actually are, have and do, and it perpetuates the harm and loss. Campagna and Guevara compellingly argue, on rigorous but accessible grounds, that there is an alternative language to guide conservation, in confronting the radically urgent, ethical issues it faces. This is a language with which we are all familiar, mastered by naturalists, from Aristotle to Audubon. It articulates the primary value in life and the standard that must guide how human beings should live, as one form of life, among countless others. This book is a homecoming for those who practice conservation to, above all else, secure a creature’s ability to satisfy the necessities of its form of life.

Textile Conservation: Advances in Practice demonstrates the development in the role and practice of the textile conservator and captures the current diversity of textile conservators’ work. The book focuses on four major factors which have influenced development in textile conservation practice since the 1980s: the changing context, an evolution in the way conservators think about objects, the greater involvement of stakeholders, and technical developments. These are all integral to effective conservation decision-making. • Includes case studies from the UK, USA and mainland Europe and Asia • Assesses the conservation of objects in some of the world’s major cultural institutions • Highly illustrated in full colour to show the effect of conservation in practice Textile Conservation is a reference manual for textile conservators, textile conservation students and museum and heritage professionals.

Ecosystems and their constituent species the world over face a barrage of ongoing, and often escalating, threats. Conservation efforts aim to reduce the impact of these threats to ensure that global biodiversity continues to provide essential ecosystem services. As is most often the case, these efforts to protect threatened species and their environments are constrained by limited resources. Conservation biologists have therefore had to increase the efficiency of their conservation practices to deliver the greatest benefit at the lowest cost. This requires decision making using the best available knowledge to prioritise actions. A concept that has received considerable attention in this area is that of conservation triage. This eBook brings together perspectives from researchers and conservation practitioners who share their views and results in an effort to extend the discussion on this topic. A number of the papers in this eBook tackle the philosophical elements of conservation triage, while others take a more directed practical approach providing examples from conservation practice globally.

* Conservation ethics and principles, such as minimum intervention, integrity and authenticity of an object, addressed from a wide range of professional and academic viewpoints, including contributions from curators, museology theorists and philosophers * Theory and principles presented and analysed both from a Western perspective and outside the boundaries of North America and Europe * Brings together conservation theory relevant to collections, historic buildings, monuments and archaeological sites