The Vertigo Effect: Institutional dynamics in nature conservation
Christina Pichler-Koban, University of Klagenfurt, E.C.O. Institut für Ökologie, Klagenfurt (AT)
Red lists of endangered species are meaningful instruments to prioritise efforts in nature conservation in general and in the management of protected areas in particular. By example of Desmoulins's whorl snail (Vertigo moulinsiana) we investigate the complex societal and institutional processes that lead to the inclusion of the specimen into IUCN's and other red lists. In a transdisciplinary research design, we integrate historic and contemporary materials. First results propose that red lists can be considered important societal norms rather than stringently scientific concepts. This would allow and call for new perspectives on nature conservation and protected areas as well.