What is the difference between preservationism and conservationism

With the definition, further than wood, not referring to the natural or environmental preservation in any of the examples. The American definition of preservation is stated as "the act of keeping something as it is, esp. As can be seen in the above definitions, the word conservation is colloquially linked more closely than preservation with the environmental and natural aspects of the words.

A further example of the ecological link of conservation is the Wikipedia page for conservation which is clearly focused on the natural sciences including themes like conservation biology, conservation ethic, movement and organisations as well as other categories such as land designated to conservation. Whereas, the preservation page focusses on social themes such as heritage, arts and entertainment and mathematics and computer science, with no reference to the natural aspect.

Environmental organisations that are custodians of natural areas readily include the word conservation in their names, the primary example being the IUCN: International Union of Conservation of Nature. A quick scan of the exhaustive list of names on the international environmental organisations page on Wikipedia did not yield an example of an organisation using preservation as part of their name.

Preservation is mainly utilised in relation to the preservation of artefacts. According to a now unpublished article by the US National Park Service during the early 20 th century two factions emerged from the environmental movement, interestingly they called it opposing. Put simply, conservation seeks the proper use of nature, while preservation seeks protection of nature from use. The conservationists view is partly attributed to Gifford Pinchot — which I will show later is most probably a false attribution.

Pinchot troubled by the destruction of forests wanted sustainable forestry and advocated conservation. Preservationists argue that the link to sustainable forestry through Pinchot provides an indication that conservation allows human use and that natural areas need to be preserved to only be viewed, a view they trace back to John Muir.

This view has been depicted on a continuum by Raoof Mostafazadeh above. The continuum provides a very simplistic depiction of the types of impact that could occur which the IUCN categories take into account in their classification of protected areas.

The preservationist view removes the human from the ecological environment rather than seeing us as part of nature, an anthropocentric view.

Further to this, the preservation argument does not preclude future use as one can preserve something for future use as in the case of food. The image by Jihoon Kim in his Harvard master's thesis "Rethinking Architectural Conservation" provides an excellent depiction of how conservation can include preservation. Placing conservation on a time continuum rather than on a "human impact — left alone" continuum it provides a better view of where restoration, preservation and conservation are placed.

Freya Mathews delivers a view that conservation is evolving to attain biodiversity, which in her view sets the bar to low. She indicates it skews conservation policy to proportionality. We live in a utilitarian world and have to deal with real-life issues, such as the fact that farming is required to feed the world.

Biodiversity is a motivating factor to provide ever-increasing farmland, degraded land, cities, as well as conserved areas with conservation objectives to improve biodiversity through restoration. Conservationists, not unlike preservationists, aim to place as much land as possible under protection.

The following article explains what preservation and conservation are all about and how you can help protect our planet. To understand the difference between conservation and preservation, we need to know their definitions. This means protecting the land for humans to benefit from it in the future. This very much entails preserving the planet without undue influence or change.

Besides the official definition, what are conservation and preservation all about? Conservation concentrates on saving what we have , and not wasting any of our resources. This generally speaks about things like electricity and water, using less and ensuring we have these resources in the future. As well as fauna and flora which need human intervention to continue to thrive often because their habitats, food sources, and lives have been threatened by human interference.

Often, conservation requires humans to step in and help keep things safe and protected — many times from ourselves. Preservation is about maintaining and safekeeping our ecosystems and not allowing them to be changed or destroyed. This is often seen in nature reserves and protected areas that have little to no signs of human life e. Okavango Delta. For the best preservation, very little human interference is needed.

We allow nature to take its course, and simply ensure that it is not bothered while it does so. Now we have a bit more understanding of the differences and similarities between preservation and conservation. This is to ensure that the next generations will be able to use these same resources in the future.

Conservationists monitor the sustainability of things like timber trees, water, and even fishing spots. Like using rainwater to water your plants or flush the toilet, instead of letting it all go down the drain. Conservationists also work with endangered animals , often re-creating habitats and conditions for new life, to avoid extinction and keep biodiversity intact. Gifford Pinchot was a conservationist who worked closely with President Roosevelt.

Pinchot founded and became the first chief of the US Forest Service. He also established the more modern definition of conservation, with its meaning of using the earth wisely for the greater good of mankind. Many preservationists deal more with historic buildings , objects , and landscapes.

However, preservationists also have a part to play in the natural environment. They would mark out spaces that need protecting from the constant needs of humans. Preservationists show us where to stop and leave a place for nature to be in peace.

John Muir was a Scottish writer and an early preservationist. He helped draw up the proposed boundaries of the Yosemite National Park while he was living there. He was one of the first advocates for creating national parks that protect nature. Now we understand the difference between these two worlds, and how they are used in the grander scheme of things.

Conservation is the sustainable use of natural resources. Our natural resources include wildlife, air, water, and what we get from earth. Some of our natural resources are renewable, while others, unfortunately, are not. Some examples of renewable resources are water, timber, and sunlight. Conservation of renewable natural resources means limiting their consumption to a rate slower than their replacement rate.

Non-renewable natural resources — like our fossil fuels — can be conserved by maintaining a sufficient amount to be utilized by future generations. The focus of natural resources conservation is on the needs and interests of people; these needs may fall under biological, cultural, recreational, or economic. Preservation, on the other hand, means maintaining the present state of something. Preservation of natural resources is mainly focused on resources that have not been touched by humans.

The main concern for preserving some resources is that mankind has been excessively utilizing them for housing, farming, industry, tourism, and other human development purposes, which has damaged their natural beauty. The philosophy behind the conservation of natural resources is that their use is a necessity for human progress and development; however, conservationists stress that changes should not be wasteful or result in the degradation of the environment.

Preservation, on the other hand, aims to keep the resources in a pristine state. Conservationists try as much as possible to manage the resources to make them more abundant and allow people to benefit from them; preservationists want to keep things as they are, in the belief that everything and everyone has the right to live, thus allowing trees, for example, to grow without being touched by humans.

Often, preservation is done to environments that were already damaged. Conversely, conservation is done to prevent the damage or destruction before it causes more serious problems. Most of the time, archival institutions group conservation and preservation together.

This is mainly because many conservationists also play the role of preservationist, and vice versa.