The term conservation biology was first introduced at a conference at the University of California by biologists Bruce Wilcox and Michael Soule in 1978.
The conference is a form of concern for deforestation, the extinction of species and the destruction of habitats and ecosystems.
Conservation biology is closely related to the concepts of biodiversity, distribution and migration, demography, population, and cultivation.
Conservation biologists work in laboratories, offices, fields, government, universities, industry, and nonprofit organizations. They are funded to research, supervise, report every detail related to their field.
To do conservation, they must answer three basic questions. First, how is biodiversity distributed on earth? Second, what are the threats to biodiversity? Third, what can be done to reduce these threats and, if possible, restore biodiversity and ecosystems to their original state?
Why is Biodiversity Conservation Necessary?
Biodiversity plays an important role in human life and maintains a balance between living and non-living things in an environment.
For example, biodiversity has provided plants as food for humans as well as for decomposer organisms (eg bacteria and fungi) that break down organic matter into nutrients for water and soil.
What are the Threats to Biodiversity?
The main threats to biodiversity are habitat destruction and loss, new arrivals of species, and over-exploitation of natural resources.
Habitat loss is caused by deforestation for settlements, agriculture, and industry as well as illegal logging.
Habitat destruction occurs due to pollution, pollution, and erosion.
The presence of newcomer species in a place results in competition with local species in terms of places to live and food sources.
Excessive exploitation of natural resources, for example, is catching fish with explosives, hunting elephants for their tusks, hunting rhinos for their horns, hunting tigers for their skins, and so on.
How to Help Conservation?
Not only researchers can do conservation. We can also play a role, for example in the following way.
- Stop the over-exploitation of natural resources.
- Stop illegal logging.
- Reducing pollution by using public transportation when traveling, not littering, and so on.
- Save energy, among others, by turning off the lights when not in use, turning off the faucet when the tub is full, and so on.
- Use products that can be recycled.