Search This Blog

Sunday 6 July 2014

Conservation

Before the 19th century, when human population sizes were small and modern technology was developing, the effects of human activities on natural populations seldom seemed significant. Worldwide concern about the plight of species in their natural environments only started in the 19th century.

Yellowstone National Park, the world's second official protected area (after Mongolia's Bogd Khan Mountain), was signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872.

Detailed pictorial map from 1904

During his presidency, Theodore Roosevelt established the United States Forest Service, signed into law the creation of five National Parks, and signed the 1906 Antiquities Act under which he proclaimed 18 national monuments.

Roosevelt also established the first 51 Bird Reserves, 4 Game Preserves, and 150 National Forests. The area of the United States placed under public protection by President Roosevelt totals approximately 230,000,000 acres .

Today, Roosevelt's dedication to conservation is remembered by a national park that bears his name in the North Dakota Badlands. Theodore Roosevelt National Park is home to a variety of plants and animals, including bison, prairie dogs, and elk.

Protection of animal species on an international scale was initiated as early as 1916 with the Migratory Bird Treaty between the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and, later, Mexico.

Missouri was the first US state to amend wildlife conservation into its constitution in order to prevent it from being easily repealed, by a state-wide referendum, which was held on November 3, 1936. The model Missouri uses for wildlife conservation is still a transnational standard in the 21st century.

The 1973 Endangered Species Act was the most effective and far-reaching law ever passed in the United States to protect plants and animals in natural ecosystems. The act made it illegal for anyone to injure, molest, kill, capture, or transport species identified as endangered or threatened. The legislation provided habitat protection programs for endangered plant species and led to the protection of endangered species in other countries through the control of the importing of skins, feathers, shells, and living specimens for commercial purposes.

A publication released at the IUCN World Parks Congress in Sydney on November 13, 2014 showed that the 209,000 conservation reserves around the world now cover 15.4 per cent of the total land area.

At least 844 animals and plants are known to have disappeared in the past 500 years.

Source Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia © 1998 The Learning Company, Inc

No comments:

Post a Comment