NCS proponents implicitly assume that people’s core motivations are deeply self-serving and thus that economic self-interest is the most potent motivator, but a great deal of research shows that social and moral factors strongly shape behavior and support for policies, often
outweighing direct economic self-interest (e.g., [40,41]).
This conclusion is borne out by even a cursory look at the long history of conservation successes.
Most national and international conservation laws have garnered strong support at least in part by appeals to non-economic, ethical principles [e.g., Migratory Bird Act, US Endangered Species
Act, Canadian Species at Risk Act, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), Wilderness Act, Clean Water Act].
Moral arguments are also the way to build alliances across broad coalitions of different constituencies, including those motivated by both social and ecological issues[32].
The stance that conservation progress should be driven by transient economic preferences rather than enduring values also hampers recognition of the possibility or even the need for structural and institutional changes to achieve and sustain conservation objectives.
Finally, the assumption, and hence reinforcement, of only economic motivations for conservation ignores and may thus diminish the importance of political, scientific, philosophical,and religious motivations for conservation found across different nations and cultures.