Conservation

Conservation is the care and protection of Earth’s natural resources including air, minerals, plants, soil, water, and wildlife – so that they can persist for future generations. It includes maintaining diversity of species, genes, and ecosystems, and functions of the environment, such as nutrient cycling. 

Conservation’s goals include protecting species from extinction, maintaining and restoring habitats, enhancing ecosystem services and protecting biological diversity. 

A range of values underlie conservation, which can be guided by biocentrism (ethical point of view that extends inherent value to all living things). 

It is an understanding of how the earth works, particularly as it relates to: 

• Biodiversity (the variety and variability of life on Earth)
• Anthropocentrism (the point of view that humans are the only, or primary, holders of moral standing) 
• Ecocentrism (a point of view that recognizes the ecosphere, rather than the biosphere, as central in importance, and attempts to redress the imbalance created by anthropocentrism) 
• Sentientism (naturalistic ethical philosophy according to which all sentient beings deserve moral consideration)

Conservation is similar to preservation, but while both relate to the protection of nature, they strive to accomplish this task in different ways. 

Conservation seeks the sustainable use of nature by humans, for activities such as hunting, logging, or mining, while preservation means protecting nature from human use.

The goal of National Parks, for instance, is preservation with an emphasis on causing minimal change to the landscape or environment, while National Forests can be used for cattle grazing, lumber, hunting, and recreation.

Continued human population growth has led to unsustainable rates of consumption of natural resources, resulting in a loss of Earth’s biodiversity. The main factors driving biodiversity loss include habitat destruction, climate change, invasive species, overexploitation, and pollution.

Why conservation is important…

Declining biodiversity is closely intertwined with species extinction. While extinction is a normal process of nature, the rate at which it is happening today is not natural. 

Scientists estimate that current extinction rates are about a thousand times higher now than would be expected based on the fossil record, and that Earth may be experiencing a mass extinction event, which is when 75 percent or more species are lost at a time.

The extinction of the passenger pigeon is a famous example of an extinction caused by human activity. It was once the most abundant land bird in North America, with a population of approximately three to five billion when Europeans arrived. 

Despite its vast numbers, this pigeon became extinct in the wild by the 1900s because of overhunting. The last individual bird, named Martha, died in captivity in 1941 at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Conservation practices and policies, ranging from the removal of invasive species, to setting aside protected land for wildlife and plants, to establishing the US Endangered Species Act (ESA), have been put in place to combat these extinction pressures. 

Currently, more than 26,500 species are estimated to be at risk of extinction, though the exact number is difficult to calculate.

Despite conservation efforts, these species will likely go extinct in the next few years with so few numbers and continued threats. 

“Whatever we believe about how we got to be the extraordinary creatures we are today, is far less important than bringing our intellect to bear on how we now unite around the world, and get out of the mess we’ve made. That’s the key thing now. Never mind how we got to be who we are.” 

“Only if we understand, will we care. Only if we care, will we help. Only if we help shall all be saved.” – Jane Goodhall.