South Africa's earliest conservation organisations, formed in the 1800s, were game preservation associations, concerned primarily with protection of wildlife. These were formed by hunters concerned about declining numbers of wild animals. Single species conservation formed the focus of conservation efforts in South Africa until fairly recently, when people became aware that all species are dependant on their habitat and life support systems. The realization that the earth's resources (living and non- living) are both finite, and essential for the survival of human, and other life, contributed to a broadening of the concept of conservation to include, as well as wild animals, all the interacting components of an ecosystem that are necessary for its healthy functioning. More recently, scientific and technological advances, such as the use of satellites, have allowed us to assess global environmental problems such as depletion of ozone (see Enviro Facts "Ozone"), and global warming (see Enviro Facts "Global warming").

Today, conservation has come to be described as the wise use of the earth's resources such that they will be able to support, or sustain, all life for generations ahead. Conservation is practised in different ways in different situations. For example:

* In a national park, conservation might involve protection of ecosystems including endangered species, such as the black rhino (see Enviro Facts "Rhino").

* In agriculture, conservation might involve permaculture techniques (see Enviro Facts "Permaculture," "Soil," "Soil erosion"), or river catchment management (see Enviro Facts "River catchments," "Wetlands," "Estuaries").

* In industry, pollution control measures (see Enviro Facts "Pollution," "Integrated Environmental Management"), or environmental auditing (see Enviro Facts "Environmental auditing") is in keeping with the `wise use of resources'.

* In our personal lives, recycling waste in our home is a conservation action (see Enviro Facts "War on waste").

The above examples show that conservation involves the use of resources, in many different situations, all of which include protection and maintenance (e.g. national parks and game reserves), and rehabilitation and restoration of ecosystems and their populations (e.g. planting of trees and shrubs along a degraded riverbank).

Conservation is also applied to our cultural heritage, thus including things of historical importance, such as old buildings, battle fields and oral traditions.

WHY CONSERVE?

Some people argue that the creation has an intrinsic value and thus a right to exist, independently of human use. Christian belief is that people will achieve harmony with nature through Jesus Christ. This is in keeping with the view that the solution to our environmental problems lies not only in technological or scientific advance, but in an awareness of the non-material dimension of the human-environment relationship.

In addition to the `intrinsic value' argument for conservation, people are dependant on natural resources for a variety of reasons:

Ecological Value
Ecology is the study of the interactions and relationships between all living (plants and animal) and non-living (e.g. soil, water, air) things on earth. From ecology we have learnt of the interdependence of all living and non-living things.

"All things are connected, like the blood that unites one family. Whatever befalls the earth, befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself." - Chief Seattle.

Ecological reasons for conservation demonstrate the need to care for the life support systems of the planet. The greenhouse effect (see Enviro Facts "Global warming") illustrates the breakdown of a life support system, the maintenance of the carbon dioxide balance in the atmosphere. Increased burning of fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and gas, releases greater amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Deforestation results in less carbon dioxide being taken up by plants (see Enviro Facts "Deforestation"). The overall result is an increase in the carbon dioxide concentration of the atmosphere, and this contributes to a warming of the earth's atmosphere.

Economic Value
Healthy ecosystems
Most sections of our economy are dependant on natural resources. For example, industries such as forestry, fishing, agriculture and tourism, are all dependent on the healthy functioning of the natural environment. If the resource base on which these industries depend is damaged, the industries themselves suffer. For example, overfishing of pilchards off the west coast of South Africa and Namibia resulted in the 1970s crash in fish populations, and harvests dropped dramatically.

Genetic diversity
Plants and animals contain a largely untapped store of genetic diversity which may be of great value in plant and animal breeding programmes (see Enviro Facts "Biodiversity" and "Biodiversity in South Africa"). In addition, plants are chemical factories able to make vast numbers of complex and unusual substances, many of which are potential medicines for humankind. Examples of existing drugs based on plants include:

* quinine, an anti-malarial medicine, made from a substance in the yellow cinchona plant;

* aspirin, a common drug, has been developed from a blueprint supplied by the bark of the willow tree;

* the rosy periwinkle produces substances which are effective in the treatment of leukaemia.

We cannot predict which resources may be of use in the future - thus it is important that we leave our options open and maintain the earth's biodiversity (see Enviro Facts "Biodiversity" and "Biodiversity in South Africa").

"Few problems are less recognised, but more important than the accelerating disappearance of the earth's biological resources. In pushing other species to extinction, humanity is busy sawing off the limb on which it is perched" - Professor Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University.

Aesthetic value
The beauty and peacefulness of the mountains, the sea and the bushveld attracts people for recreation, rest and refreshing inspiration. Nature is a refuge to which people turn, time and again, to be nourished and revitalised.

"The good of going into the mountains is that life is reconsidered." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

TOPICS FOR DEBATE

* South Africa has an excellent international reputation for conservation, especially for the management of its National Parks and game reserves. However, rural people living in poverty on the borders of parks and reserves seldom have access to the `wealth' of these areas - should they?

FURTHER READING

THE GAIA ATLAS OF PLANET MANAGEMENT. N. Myers (ed) Pan Books, London, 1985.

NEW GROUND: THE JOURNAL OF DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENT. Environmental and Development Agency.

OUR COMMON FUTURE. THE WORLD COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1987.

CARING FOR THE EARTH: A STRATEGY FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVING. IUCN, UNEP, WWF. Gland, 1991.

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA. R. Fuggle and M. Rabie. Juta and Co., Cape Town, 1992.

THE GREEN PAGES 1991/1992. Environmental networking and resource directory for southern Africa. Weekly Mail, Johannesburg.

GOING GREEN: PEOPLE, POLITICS AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA. J. Cock and E. Koch (eds). Oxford University Press, Cape Town, 1991.

BACK TO EARTH: SOUTH AFRICA'S ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES. J. Clarke. Southern Books, Johannesburg, 1991.

A SAND COUNTY ALMANAC. A. Leopold. Oxford University Press, 1949.

THE TURNING POINT: SCIENCE SOCIETY AND THE RISING CULTURE. F. Capra. Flamingo, London, 1982.

All books are available from Russel Friedman Books, PO Box 73, Halfway House 1685. Tel: 011-7022300/1.

USEFUL ADDRESSES

The "Green pages", details above, is a directory of conservation, and other related organisations.