The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a
political, environmental, and social movement that seeks to protect
natural resources, including animal and plant species as well as their
habitat for the future. Evidence-based conservation seeks to use high
quality scientific evidence to make conservation efforts more
effective.The early conservation movement included fisheries and
wildlife management, water, soil conservation, and sustainable
forestry. The contemporary conservation movement has broadened from
the early movement's emphasis on use of sustainable yield of natural
resources and preservation of wilderness areas to include preservation
of biodiversity. Some say the conservation movement is part of the
broader and more far-reaching environmental movement, while others
argue that they differ both in ideology and practice. Chiefly in the
United States, conservation is seen as differing from environmentalism
in that it aims to preserve natural resources expressly for their
continued sustainable use by humans. Outside the U.S. the term
conservation more broadly includes environmentalism.The conservation
movement can be traced back to John Evelyn's work Sylva, presented as
a paper to the Royal Society in 1662. Published as a book two years
later, it was one of the most highly influential texts on forestry
ever published. Timbre resources in England were becoming dangerously
depleted at the time, and Evelyn advocated the importance of
conserving the forests by managing the rate of depletion and ensuring
that the cut down trees get replenished.The field developed during the
18th century, especially in Prussia and France where scientific
forestry methods were developed. These methods were first applied
rigorously in British India from the early-19th century. The
government was interested in the use of forest produce and began
managing the forests with measures to reduce the risk of wildfire in
order to protect the "household" of nature, as it was then termed.
This early ecological idea was in order to preserve the growth of
delicate teak trees, which was an important resource for the Royal
Navy. Concerns over teak depletion were raised as early as 1799 and
1805 when the Navy was undergoing a massive expansion during the
Napoleonic Wars; this pressure led to the first formal conservation
Act, which prohibited the felling of small teak trees. The first
forestry officer was appointed in 1806 to regulate and preserve the
trees necessary for shipbuilding. This promising start received a
setback in the 1820s and 30s, when laissez-faire economics and
complaints from private landowners brought these early conservation
attempts to an end.
political, environmental, and social movement that seeks to protect
natural resources, including animal and plant species as well as their
habitat for the future. Evidence-based conservation seeks to use high
quality scientific evidence to make conservation efforts more
effective.The early conservation movement included fisheries and
wildlife management, water, soil conservation, and sustainable
forestry. The contemporary conservation movement has broadened from
the early movement's emphasis on use of sustainable yield of natural
resources and preservation of wilderness areas to include preservation
of biodiversity. Some say the conservation movement is part of the
broader and more far-reaching environmental movement, while others
argue that they differ both in ideology and practice. Chiefly in the
United States, conservation is seen as differing from environmentalism
in that it aims to preserve natural resources expressly for their
continued sustainable use by humans. Outside the U.S. the term
conservation more broadly includes environmentalism.The conservation
movement can be traced back to John Evelyn's work Sylva, presented as
a paper to the Royal Society in 1662. Published as a book two years
later, it was one of the most highly influential texts on forestry
ever published. Timbre resources in England were becoming dangerously
depleted at the time, and Evelyn advocated the importance of
conserving the forests by managing the rate of depletion and ensuring
that the cut down trees get replenished.The field developed during the
18th century, especially in Prussia and France where scientific
forestry methods were developed. These methods were first applied
rigorously in British India from the early-19th century. The
government was interested in the use of forest produce and began
managing the forests with measures to reduce the risk of wildfire in
order to protect the "household" of nature, as it was then termed.
This early ecological idea was in order to preserve the growth of
delicate teak trees, which was an important resource for the Royal
Navy. Concerns over teak depletion were raised as early as 1799 and
1805 when the Navy was undergoing a massive expansion during the
Napoleonic Wars; this pressure led to the first formal conservation
Act, which prohibited the felling of small teak trees. The first
forestry officer was appointed in 1806 to regulate and preserve the
trees necessary for shipbuilding. This promising start received a
setback in the 1820s and 30s, when laissez-faire economics and
complaints from private landowners brought these early conservation
attempts to an end.
Share this
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
Join us for free and get valuable content delivered right through your inbox.