Whither goest conservation?

Excerpt

PEOPLE in most countries are still confused about what conservation really means. This is not surprising. Conservation has been used to describe so many different kinds of issues. So-called conservation issues have arisen mostly in countries where people generally are well provided with food and shelter and seek to improve their quality of life. In countries where people are battling to survive, conservation in the popular sense has not been thought about much at all.

In the United States and other developed nations, there have been debates about the creation of national parks, bad management of forests, soil erosion, draining of wetlands, effects of mining, preservation of threatened species, flood control, nuclear energy, rates of natural resources use, and increasing pollution in urban areas. These debates often deteriorate into arguments about ethical, moral, social, or political opinions rather than centering on the scientific and technological facts and how differences of opinion about the use of land can be resolved in the long-term interest of man. Confusion about conservation will never be clarified until the public can be given a clear understanding of conservation objectives and the importance of conservation to man.

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