How does conservation help the environment

Here are some ways that you can do this:. Conserve nature: Conserving nature means to protect, preserve and restore biodiversity. Connect with nature: Connecting with nature means setting aside time to interact with the natural environment. Understanding the importance of nature and biodiversity for our own well-being can really help us to help nature.

In this article, we have provided some practical ideas that we can all try to reduce our ecological footprint, conserve nature, and connect with nature. We encourage you to put these ideas into practice and share these actions with your family and friends. These services can be broken down into provisioning e. Greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide, act like a blanket, trapping heat near the Earth's surface, and raising the temperature.

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. Conserving forests to protect water. Opflow —7. Each cell can be color-coded according to different criteria, e.

The structured matrix will be developed using framework synthesis, which applies pre-determined categories to the data and enables structured comparison [ 47 ]. Extraction of data from individual studies will be organized based upon the structured matrix. A draft matrix is available in Additional file 6 which illustrates the range of interventions and outcomes. Using software under development by the International Impact Initiative 3ie , we intend to produce an online version of the gap map, which will enable each cell to be linked to a user-friendly summary of each study to allow the user to explore the main findings and other information on each study in more detail.

In addition to the structured matrix, all articles included in the full text assessment will be characterized using descriptive statistics on key trends, including:.

Geographic locations and ecosystem types will be spatially mapped where discrete study locations are available. Given the size of the study, detailed analysis into the type and frequency of mechanisms influencing causal pathways will be limited. Where conceptual model or logical frameworks are explicit in a study, we will attempt to characterize the range of mechanisms documented and colour code studies in the structured matrix for each type of mechanism linking a specific intervention to a specific outcome.

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Journal of Development Effectiveness , 4: — Environmental Evidence , 3: 3. Thomson Reuters: Web of Science. Dixon-Woods M: Using framework-based synthesis for conducting reviews of qualitative studies. BMC Medicine , 9: Download references. The authors would like to thank all of the participants in an expert workshop in November hosted by Conservation International and Nancy Ludlow for logistical support. We also thank Andrew Pullin and Birte Snilstveit for advice on methodologies for systematic mapping, and two anonymous reviewers whose comments improved this manuscript.

You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar. Correspondence to Madeleine Bottrill. MB jointly with WT conceived the study and secured the funding support. MB and SC co-wrote the manuscript. MB and SC implemented scoping of the search strategy. Conservation is the care and protection of these resources so that they can persist for future generations. It includes maintaining diversity of species, genes, and ecosystems, as well as functions of the environment, such as nutrient cycling.

Conservation is similar to preservation , but while both relate to the protection of nature, they strive to accomplish this task in different ways. Conservation seeks the sustainable use of nature by humans, for activities such as hunting, logging, or mining, while preservation means protecting nature from human use. This difference is illustrated by how the United States manages its public lands. The goal of National Parks, for instance, is preservation with an emphasis on causing minimal change to the landscape or environment, meanwhile National Forests can be used for cattle grazing, lumber, hunting, and recreation.

The main factors driving biodiversity loss include habitat destruction, climate change, invasive species, overexploitation, and pollution. Declining biodiversity is closely intertwined with species extinction. While extinction is a normal process of nature, the rate at which it is happening today is not.

Scientists estimate that current extinction rates are about a thousand times higher now than would be expected based on the fossil record, and that we may be experiencing a mass extinction event, which is when 75 percent or more species are lost at a time.

The extinction of the passenger pigeon is a famous example of an extinction caused by human activity. It was once the most abundant land bird in North America, with a population of approximately three to five billion when Europeans arrived. Despite its vast numbers, this pigeon became extinct in the wild by the s because of overhunting.

The last individual bird, named Martha, died in captivity in at the Cincinnati Zoo. Conservation practices and policies—ranging from the removal of invasive species, to setting aside protected land for wildlife and plants, to establishing the U. Currently, more than 26, species are estimated to be at risk of extinction, though the exact number is difficult to calculate. As the chain of predator and prey continues up the food web, the toxins become more concentrated and move higher and higher up the food web.

The process that causes the concentration of a substance to increase as it moves up the food web is called bioaccumulation.

The pollutants can have a disastrous effect on the food web and potentially kill species. A natural disturbance is any event that causes a disruption to the current state of an ecosystem. Natural disturbances are caused by forces of nature, including weather, geology, and biological fluctuations.

This may include fires, floods, earthquakes, diseases, and droughts. After a disturbance impacts an ecosystem, there can be devastation, but healthy ecosystems have an amazing ability to bounce back.

Some ecosystems even depend on disturbances, such as the threatened longleaf pine ecosystem. Sometimes the ecosystem will go back to its former structure, with the same plant and animal species.

Other times, the disturbance will create something new by allowing new species to populate the area. Not all disturbances are natural.

Human actions have contributed to many disturbances seen in ecosystems today. While natural disturbances happen on occasion, human disturbances are putting constant pressure on ecosystems and dramatically impacting species. Human disturbances, including clear-cutting, habitat fragmentation, and pollution, are continuously affecting ecosystems. The moment the ecosystem begins adjusting to one stress, another appears. Many ecosystems that we depend on are not given enough time to adapt to the new conditions.

The natural cycle of disturbances—growth, dieback, and growth—cannot properly function because too many disturbances are putting pressure on the ecosystem at once.

Wild animals are always on the move. They move from place to place in search of food, mates, shelter, and water. Many animals do not have to move far in order to have all their needs met, but other animals—for example migratory birds, wolves , mountain lions , or butterflies —require much more space.

Currently many species with large territories, including gray wolves, are threatened because habitat loss and fragmentation have limited their available space. Roads, fences, and buildings cut off habitat and force wildlife into smaller areas. Conservationists have to take into account the different spatial needs of wildlife when designing plans to protect them. They have to think about the territory size, different habitat types, and migration routes that wildlife need.