Conservation of resources

Article By:

Reid, Walter V. World Resources Institute, Washington, DC.

Last reviewed:February 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.157900

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• Conservation of resources, published June 2014:Download PDF Get Adobe Acrobat Reader

Management of the human use of natural resources to provide the maximum benefit to current generations while maintaining capacity to meet the needs of future generations. Conservation includes both the protection and rational use of natural resources. In their attempts to protect and limit the use of the Earth's limited natural resources, environmentalists and conservationists must consider the preservation, restoration, beneficiation, maximization, reutilization, substitution, allocation, and integration of these resources. Another factor that plays a role in the use and conservation of natural resources is global climate change (global warming). In particular, humans are inadvertently altering the atmospheric chemical composition on a global scale, which has led to an unprecedented warming of the global atmosphere. This rapid warming is changing the biomes of the world, which in turn will affect the survival of all plant and animal species, including humans (Fig. 1). See also: Biome; Conservation of species; Environment; Environmental engineering; Environmental management; Global climate change; Global warming

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