Great Crested Newt European Protected Species Licence Herefordshire
19 Mar 2014

Conservation Chronicles: The History of Conservation

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The History of Conservation

Conservation is defined as the maintenance of environmental quality and resources or a particular balance among the species present in a given area.

While this modern definition and the industries that have grown around it are still relatively young compared with other scientific disciplines, the actual idea of conservation can be traced back to the middle ages.

During the middle-ages, the Kings of England had a great desire for hunting in the wilderness. They realised very quickly that in order to continue enjoying this ‘sport’ they would need to preserve areas from poachers and also from villagers cutting down the trees. Even as far back as then, they had made the connection between the habitats and the animals within them. Yes, they were conserving them simply to be able to kill them later but it is nevertheless the birthplace of the idea of animal preserves.

Big Names in Conservation

Theodore Roosevelt – Set aside 194,000,000 acres of federal land for national parks and nature reserves. He was also instrumental in establishing the United States Forest Service.

Peter Scott – (1909-1989) Founder of the World Wildlife Fund and Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and the first conservationist to be knighted in 1973.

Gerald Durrell – naturalist, zookeeper, conservationist, writer, television presenter, founder of the Jersey Wildlife Conservation Trust (now Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust) and the Jersey Zoo (now renamed Durrell Wildlife Park).

Dian Fossey – Primatologist are known for studying gorillas, author, founder of the Digit Fund today known as the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, was murdered presumably by poachers because of her cause.

William H. Seward – United States Secretary of State who acquired Alaska from Russia for two cents per acre. Seward’s Folly is the largest remaining wilderness in North America.

Jane Goodall – Primatologists are known for studying chimpanzees, author, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute.

Steve Irwin – Increased awareness through his TV shows and campaigned tirelessly with charities.

David Attenborough – Arguably the most well-known TV naturalist, BBC wildlife programmes are not the same without his distinctive voice narrating and he inspired generations of naturalists. He has worked with lots of charities and museums to promote conservation.

When we think of endangered species the animals that come to mind are polar bears, pandas and tigers. However, we actually have several endangered species on our doorsteps, they are just not as big and cuddly looking as those mentioned above. Our endangered species include; Bats, Dormice, Great Crested Newts, Otter, and Barn Owls.

Places great crested newtof Conservation

The one place that people always associate with conservation is the Zoo. Zoological gardens began as places for the Victorians to showcase the weird and wonderful creatures that the famous naturalists of the day, such as Darwin and Alfred Wallace, encountered on their long voyages abroad. For people who could not leave the British Isles as readily as we can today, it was fascinating to think that these strange creatures even existed. Nowadays, zoos are primarily about increasing awareness of the plight of animals; the majority of zoological collections are of animals that have never seen the wild or rescued animals. Many zoos have highly successful breeding programmes that allow for the introduction of new individuals to the wild in order to increase population numbers.

Legislation In Conservation

The less exciting and yet arguably far more successful side of conservation lies within the legislation. It includes all of the national parks, local nature reserves and even that green in the middle of your housing estate that no one can build on. It is taking the option of acting before things get too bad; conserving the habitat and animals while they are still in high enough numbers to keep their populations going.

The next step in conservation is the sometimes controversial plan to re-introduce animals that we have previously driven to extinction. This is a scheme that has been highly successful in other countries, and even in Britain in the case of Otters. However, there are many arguments over which species to re-introduce and whether bringing back some and not others will create more problems than it will solve. Beavers have been successfully re-introduced into the UK and pine martens have been re-introduced into Wales from Scotland to increase the Welsh population. These re-introductions often aim to re-balance an ecosystem to a more natural state, before human interference. For example, the pine marten re-introductions may help red squirrels to recover. Click here to find out how.

Careers In Conservation

There is now a wide range of courses with links to conservation available in Universities and the options are expanding. The associated careers are part of a rapidly growing job sector that is expanding to cover the ever-growing number of environmental issues the world has to offer. If you are interested in pursuing a career in an environmental job then you should check out our ‘tips for graduates’ blog articles (see below) or attend one of our ecology courses.

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