What to Know About Wildlife Conservation and How to Help
The term wildlife conservation refers to the practice of protecting animals and their environments. Wildlife conservation can include regulating excessive or reduced wildlife populations, protecting endangered species, and reviving environments by reintroducing native animals. Whether you’re a fisherman, hunter, or genuinely enjoy the great outdoors, here are five things you should know about wildlife conservation.
Why Wildlife Conservation is Important
Why do animals need protection in the first place? Animals provide balance and stability. From honey bees to hammerhead sharks, all species of animals create a natural balance that our planet relies on. Unfortunately, many things put animal populations at risk, such as pollution, deforestation, droughts, and more. Wildlife conservation isn’t just important for animals and their habitats; it’s essential for all living things on this earth. Biodiversity, the variety of animals, plants, and ecosystems, keeps our world alive and supports the health of the ecosystems that give us food, clean water and air, and a steady climate.
While wildlife conservation is vital to present-day humans, it is also crucial for future generations. We must try our best to keep nature around for generations to come, so they can appreciate it as we do.
The Difference Between Conservation and Preservation
People may use the terms conservation and preservation interchangeably, but they are not the same. While conservation promotes the wise use of natural land and its inhabitants, preservation seeks to eliminate human impact by forbidding the use of nature.
A popular instance of conservation is deer hunting. The population of white-tailed deer has grown from 500,000 in the early 20th century, to potentially over 30M today. Hunters play a significant part in maintaining a healthy deer population each year. Without hunting, the deer population would increase to unmanageable proportions.
If you’re an avid hiker, you may notice that some trails around the country will close from time to time due to bald eagle nesting. This is an example of preservation. These restrictions shield bald eagles from possible disturbances caused by human presence, which can lead to egg failure or the death of young eagles during the nesting season. Although the terms may differ, there’s a lot of potential for preservationists and conservationists to work together to protect our wildlife.
Who Pays for Wildlife Conservation
The primary source of income for all state wildlife conservation programs in the U.S. comes from hunters and anglers who buy hunting and fishing licenses and habitat stamps. This is part of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation. Federal excise fees on firearms, ammo, and hunting and fishing gear also contribute millions of dollars to conservation programs that benefit game and non-game species as part of this funding paradigm.
Who Supports Wildlife Conservation
In addition to the income from hunters and anglers, many individual organizations support wildlife conservation. To name a few, there are the National Wildlife Federation (the largest private, nonprofit wildlife conservation organization in the U.S.) and the World Widelife Fund (the largest wildlife conservation organization in the world). While those are some of the largest wildlife organizations, it’s always a great idea to opt for smaller organizations local to your community. For example, Conservation First USA supports wildlife conservation efforts in Arizona.
How to Make a Difference
You can make a difference to help protect wildlife in many ways. The organizations mentioned above rely heavily on monetary donations, so providing funds is one way to help. Some organizations offer symbolic adoptions to raise money, which can be engaging and fun for children. If you don’t have money to donate, you can always volunteer your time. Picking up trash or planting native trees are great places to start!
