The NCS argument caricatures
the views of conservationists about pristine nature, while making the scientifically unsupportable claim that natural systems are almost infinitely resilient. There are still many relatively undisturbed areas across the globe [17] and although
conservationists have long recognized that these areas are not pristine [22], they also recognize that such areas usually harbor far more biodiversity than do urban parks
and plantations, a point NCS advocates only sometimes acknowledge [2].
Moreover, conservation scientists have focused at least as much on nature’s resilience as its
fragility (Table S2 in the supplemental material online).
Although many environmental harms can indeed be ameliorated or reversed, others are virtually irreversible (e.g.,extinction, climate change, mountaintop removal).