The Value Of Maintaining Natural Ecosystems: Preservation Vs. Conservation
The Value of Maintaining Natural Ecosystems: Preservation vs. Conservation
While preservation or conservation may not be at the top of everyone list, it is a political hot topic. Most Americans would probably agree that protecting the environment is, at the very least, worthy. If nothing else, the vast majority of Americans would probably also be willing to concede that the human race is certainly capable of destroying the earth resources, and the environments that sustain them, if some protective measures are not eventually taken. Indeed, the delicate balance of diversity necessary to sustain healthy ecosystems, and sustain the well being of America at-large, is easily disrupted and must be maintained.
Conservation is to protect the environment, but continuing to use it at the same time. Allowing the resources to be managed, but they will also be able to use the abundant product that comes along with flourishing. One of the central controversies of the twentieth-century environmental movement has been between those who want to preserve "wilderness" and those who support managed use of the material resources. Conservation: The maintenance of environmental quality and resources or a particular balance among the species present in a given area. The resources may be fossil fuels, biological, or tropical forests. In modern scientific usage conservation implies sound biosphere management within given social and economic constraints, producing goods and services for humans without depleting natural ecosystem diversity, and acknowledging the naturally dynamic character of biological systems.
The American people have had a complex relationship with nature. On the other hand, we have exploited the nation's natural resources with devastating speed -- clearing forests, damming rivers, killing wildlife, fouling the air and water with pollutants, (U.S. Department of State, 2008).
Preservation is to protect the environment from everyone and want it to be left in...
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