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NLCS Environmental Awareness Society
Conservation is “the protection of plants and animals, natural areas, and interesting and important structures and buildings, especially from the damaging effects of human activity” . This is to prevent a loss of biodiversity, mainly by species extinction, but also a loss of genetic diversity, which can reduce the survival rate of species; as they can become more susceptible to disease epidemics.
Conservation is important because it helps preserve genetic variation in species; so organisms can survive stochastic events and preserve the population, ensure disease resistance, (as plant viruses cause an estimated $60bn loss in crop yields per year), preserve food webs, as the loss of species from a food web damages the entire system (preserving a large number of species in the web provides back-up food resources in case of population declines. The majority of conservation projects work by protecting the species that is endangered by, breeding the species, using rangers to patrol the habitat, and preserving the habitat. Those who maximise community involvement use co-managed protected areas, community guided eco-tours and community led biological monitoring of the species and habitat.
The lastest issue of the Environmental Magazine Footprint has its focus on Conservation, with topics ranging from the typical animal and ecosystem protection, to the impact of Brexit on the role of the UK in conservation and how the Economy and our actions can be used to conserve our resources.
As ever we have included videos, movies and documentaries that you can watch to find out more, as our goal as a society is to raise awareness of environmental issues that our Earth faces, with effects both now and in the future. We want to promote change in our society, by educating those about the impacts of our modern lifestyles.
I hope that this publication inspires you to take action!
Lizzie Bourn
Editor
Editorial