Nature conservation

Grab a deck of cards and build a pyramid. Now, pull one card out. The whole structure collapses! The natural world we are a part of is much like this pyramid. Taking away a part of it, say a nutrient in the soil or an animal species, can disrupt the whole ecosystem.

By overusing natural resources and polluting the environment, humans are doing just that — taking away parts of ecosystems and damaging them. If we want ecosystems to continue to function, we need to protect the biological diversity, maintain and restore natural habitats, and preserve natural resources. These are the goals of nature conservation. It is usually governments or non-governmental organisations who are responsible for different conservation projects. And there are various ways they can do this.

Sometimes, governments decide to protect a habitat or an ecosystem as a whole. They might designate an area as a natural park or wildlife reserve. Such an area is then protected by law, which regulates what can or cannot be done there. You might be able to go for a hike through a protected natural park, but fishing on a lake inside the park is likely to be forbidden. Industry is not allowed in protected areas either, to help keep that environment in the best condition possible.

Governments can also implement other laws to protect nature. They can prohibit hunting of some animal species, or regulate the amount of trees allowed to be cut down. These are some examples of preservation efforts that happen on-site where an ecosystem or a certain species is. This type of on-site conservation is called in-situ conservation. Other conservation practices take place off-site, or ex-situ.

Zoos and aquariums can be an example of ex-situ conservation if they are run in the best interest of the animals. In zoos, endangered species of animals can be kept alive and bred so that one day, we might be able to return them to their natural environment. Another example is seed banks. Seed banks store seeds of plants from a specific region or from around the world. These seeds can be used to reintroduce plant species into the wild in case of a natural disaster or sudden loss of plant diversity.

Zoos and seed banks are also great learning hubs, where visitors can learn about different species and how to protect them. Conservation is an enormous task that requires commitment, effort, and involvement of communities if it is to be successful. But it’s important to remember that protecting nature protects people too — humans are just as much a part of the environmental pyramid of cards as anything else.