Summary of the Article “The Preservation Predicament”

The article discusses the conservation plans in a world that is fast warming up, hence creating worries regarding the future of protected regions.  In this article, Dean discusses the predicament that is faced while preserving the environment during this period where the world is experiencing climate change. He describes the efforts that have been made by organizations that are mandated with the responsibility of preserving the environment as being not sufficient. As a result, many professionals who are involved in conservation such as biologists and ecologists believe that more efforts ought to be put in order to address this issue. There is need to focus on the future of the environment, and come up with effective measures to make sure that the environment is conserved.

The predicament that conservationist are facing is how they should treat the whole aspect of conservation. Whereas significant steps have been made in terms of protecting 10 percent of the predominant habitat types such as grasslands, fresh water bodies, as well as forests, there is uncertainty on the way that it ought to be approached. For instance, the author of the article asserts that areas that were previously protected as grasslands are quickly turning into forests. In this case, the dilemma is whether to fight this encroachment of the grasslands into forests, or let them continue spreading.

Conservationists believe that funds should be raised so as to identify landscapes that are biologically significant with an aim of protecting them. Many organizations in the U.S. have made efforts to conserve its ecosystem. According to the article, the coastal ecosystems are the most likely to pose difficult conservation concerns. This is because the sea levels are rising, engulfing the area that are protected, hence making it more susceptible. There are concerns that some ecosystems such as the coral reefs might not be able to survive in a warm environment, yet the world is increasingly warming up.