Thom van Dooren (University of New South Wales and the Rachel Carson Center, Munich):

Banking the Forest: Loss, Hope and Care in Hawaiian Conservation

Abstract:

Hawaii is one of the extinction capitals of the world. Amongst a wide range of threatened taxa, the islands’ forest species – including many plants, birds and snails – have been particularly vulnerable to extinction. This paper weaves its way through three sites of intensive care for threatened species – a seed bank, a captive bird breeding centre and a snail ark – to explore some of the problems and possibilities of attempting to ‘bank’ biodiversity. What forms of hope animate these projects? What modes of loss do they imagine and perhaps stem? Ultimately, can Hawaii’s disappearing forests be banked, and at what cost?