320700 – Охрана окружающей среды и рациональное использование природных ресурсов (The Environment Conservation and the Rational Use of Natural Resources)

THE IMPORTANCE OF CONSERVATION (8377 characters)

Values to Mankind

Conservation is essential to human survival. Because life depends upon the proper functioning of the biosphere – the relatively narrow zone of air, water, soil, and rock in which all life on Earth exists--the ultimate purpose of conservation is to maintain the biosphere in a healthy operating condition. Although it is known that green plants supply oxygen to the atmosphere, that plants and animals recycle nutrients, and that plants and animals help maintain the fertility of soils, many of the elements that contribute to the proper functioning of the biosphere have not yet been identified. Because mankind lives with such environmental uncertainties, an attitude of care and protection toward the Earth's living resources is necessary.

Certain aspects of conservation, however, such as the prevention of pollution, have a more narrow and immediate importance. There are numerous illustrations of the serious effect of pollutants in air, water, or soil on human health and survival; for example, the accumulation of sulfur dioxide in the air of London during the 1950s led to many deaths that probably would not have otherwise occurred. The dumping of mercury-containing wastes in waters around Japan caused the death of many people and destroyed the health of others, and continuing accumulations of such toxic metals as lead, cadmium, and arsenic in air and water threaten widespread damage to human health.

Rational Use of Natural Resources

In its present usage, the conservation of natural resources includes a wide range of subsidiary concepts. One such concept is that of the rational use of the environment, which includes the preservation of certain areas or resources in an essentially undisturbed condition because they either are of scientific interest, have aesthetic appeal, or have recreational value. Preservation also serves an ecological purpose by maintaining the function of the total environment, such as the protection of forests to assure a sustained yield of water into urban reservoirs or the protection of estuaries in order to perpetuate an ocean fishery. But the preservation or the protection of natural resources is not the only concern of conservation; rational use also implies the direct use of resources for their commodity or recreational values.

Thus, the harvesting of forest crops, the grazing of grasslands by livestock, the catching of fish, and the hunting of wild animals can be considered a legitimate part of the rational use of natural resources when they are carried out in such a way that the resource is perpetuated and not endangered. Such activities involve another concept, that of sustained yield. Sustained yield is the understanding that, for example, hunting and fishing should take only the annual surplus of individuals so as not to endanger the breeding stock of game animals and fishes. For another example, the cutting of trees and the grazing of grasses should remove only the annual increment or that portion realistically capable of being replaced over a period of years through the operation of natural processes with human assistance when needed.