Preservation Vs. Conservation of an Ecosystem
- Conservation of natural resources is accomplished through environmental management and includes human participation as a means to conserve resources. Conservation biologists regularly collect data, identify goals and best management practices, and implement specific actions.
- Preservation of natural resources may include restricting public access and recreational use of an area in an attempt to minimize human interaction and impact on the resource, as in a designated wilderness area. The basic philosophy of preservation is non-interference.
- Environmental management often includes harvesting of wildlife or plants in order to maintain an ecosystem's equilibrium, including humans (as hunters and so on) as a tool for maintaining or restoring environmental balances.
- By contrast, preservation of an ecosystem will not permit the harvesting of wildlife or plants unless either, as in the case of invasive species, poses a definite threat to the health of the ecosystem.
- Both preservation and conservation of an ecosystem operate with an altruistic goal that the ecosystem will remain intact and healthy by whatever means necessary and whether or not humans are part of the equation.