Conservation and Biological Management

Abstract

As a word in the English language ‘onservation’ can be defined by the quotations from the Oxford English Dictionary. However, conservation of biological resources is not solely a problem of preservation and protection. It is not hoarding or leaving well alone as this definition may imply, since nature is not static and cannot be maintained in an unchanging state even if this were desirable. Thus, within a biological context any definition of conservation, or search for its meaning, must explore further than a concise form of words. It must review the use of the word in the biological literature and determine the full breadth of its application. It must investigate how the concept of conservation has developed, and how the concept is being put into use. These two features of the word ‘conservation’ form the basis for the discussion of this chapter. No attempt is made at a complete review, but rather at taking a short series of definitions in the recent ecological literature and at criticizing their bases and implications. No attempt is made at a complete discussion of the application of the concept of conservation, but rather at introducing a restricted application to the management of wildlife and nature reserves.