Lcda Sonia Verónica Ortega.
MANUAL DE FUNCIONES
With the voyages of discover y by the European sailors along the coastal areas outside European nations particularly to the continent of Africa and other parts of the globe in the 15th Century, was a landmark in the mission to spread European culture all over the globe. Before the close of 17th century, Europeans were already armed with navigation equipment coupled on increasingly powerful technology and equall y rekindled ability to modify large areas of the earth and to subdue less aggressive people. At this time, the attitude of explorers and colonialists were oriented more
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toward immediate personal aggrandizement of the lands they discovered and settled than towards any concern for the long – term health and productivity of the d iscovered new world.
The civilization brought by the Europeans colonizers led to soil erosion and destruction of natural vegetation and wildlife in the colonized countries such as America, Australia, India and Africa.
At the same time, different conservation practices and ideas were being promoted. It is on record that forest conservation, for instance, developed sound beginning in 17th century England, Germany and France in one part as a result of exhaustion of natural forests due to increasing request for woods fuel for industrial uses. For example in the middle of 18th century in the North America, some great men, such as Thomas Jefferson already had very great ideas for land management and conservation concern for wildlife development.
The 19th century culminated into severe environmental degredations in man y countries. For example, in Australia livestock were allowed to increase in population to levels far beyond what the natural forage could support. As a result, many animals during droughts, the system of over foraging destroyed the land to a such a degree that they have not yet recovered. In the Southern part of Africa, many types of wildlife were hunted to extinction while majority of the larger mammals reduced to small size that could hardly sustain their survival.
However, in the North America, the changes were mostly dramatic. This is because, the great herds of wildlife that were found in the plain and prairies vanished as the numbers of bison, elk, antelope, pud deer were nearly exterminated and other varieties such as bear, cougher, grizzly and wolf were later became extinct. The birds were not spared and were reduced from abundance to poor fractions. For example, the passenger pigeon Carolina paralceet and health hen were completel y wiped out. This menace of over hunting equally affected nature of luxurious forests of New England, the South and the States surroundings the Great Lakes. Most of the grasslands were overgrazed in such areas like California native vegetation was eliminated and sent to obliviors over its range and thereafter replaced by species of European and Asian origin. It was the same story in India and West Indies and other Islands all over the globe. In some parts of the world, the changes were not too felt, as a result of conservation oriented mechanism of land management.
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Self Assessment Test
Trace the great extinction of the nature wildlife in the 19th Century.
3.4 Conservation in the Millennium (21st Century) Okorodudu – Fubara posited that ‘it could have been predicted that the modern conservation movement would have its beginnings not in the settled hands of the old-world but in those areas of the New World, where, within the memory of a single generation, there had been extreme changes in the landscape and in the abundance of wildlife. The response to the destruction of natural resources in those areas necessitated the establishment and development of conservation movement. In 1822, a United State of America artists and author, Mr. George Catlin was the first to proposed the ideas of national parks encompassing vital areas where India and wild country could both be preserved. At the same period, William Bartram, a Botanist and the Ornithologist John James Anudubon were arousing an interest in wildlife and its conservation. Many authors in the same vein presented strong arguments concerning the importance of the continue survival of wild nature to the psychological well being of mankind. Among them Henry David b ecame the pioneer literary advocates of wildeners conservation .
With the above fact, the first text book on conservation entitled ‘Man and nature was written by George Perkikins Marsh in 1860s. The US Congress lend voice to the Police in 1872 when it proclaimed the YELLOWSTONE region of Wyuming as a national park and equally established for the first time a national – government role in the protection and administration of the areas. As a result, in 1891, the US established the first forest reserves, this system of national forests, was proclaimed in the area around Yellowstone national Park.
President Theodore Roosevelt played a pioneer role in conservation to become a national movement and his advisers, president’s Chief Forester, Clifford Pinchot is credited with having first used the term ‘conservation’ in its present context. He championed the advocate of utilitarian ‘wise use’ approach to conservation.
In the present history, conservation has been marked by a great explanations especially government activities in presenting the environment and development of public interest in and support for this progress.
The national parks which is meant for preservation of wild nature and to the provision of outdoor recreation space, have developed unprecedentedly and side by side national – forest systems, preserved for the multiple use of wild-land resources have become firmly established.
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In the United States of America for instance, the conservation of wild life become a cause of national interest which led to establishment of different nature resources and wild land resources which in some cases exceeding their primitive numbers.
In addition, firm control over the management of lands as a result of disastrousl y overgrazed and that many privately owned farmlands had been totally or partiall y depleted or exhausted. However, Federal intervention to establish soil conservation or privately owned lands were accepted an appropriate roles the national government and the other tiers of government must not fold their arms. It requires joint efforts of both the governments at all levels, individuals and non-governmental organization.
3.4.2 Acceptability of 20th and 21st Conservation Practices
The wide spread of conservation practices in this era of millennium development and the rate of acceptability by those countries that had experienced or witnessed sudden environmental changes. In a nut shell, by the tail end of 1920s national parks were to be found in nooks and crannies of all continents. For instance Russia (USSR) established the first of its now extensive s ystem of natural reserves in 1924.
Conservation –oriented management of forest lands, which developed more from its origin in Europe than from practices in the United State and become more widely acceptable all over the world. It will be on record that, the scientific basis for the management of natural wild grazing land for the sustainable production of forage for livestock and its allied was established in its national forests in 1913. It was within a short period, it had spread across the countries of the world.
Furthermore, in 1933, Aldo Leopold in the U.S wrote a text book on the ‘game management’ where the concepts of conservation and management of natural animals life for recreational purposes specifically for sport hunting, fishing and for direct commodity values on a sustainable basis received attention. This work was the advanced stage of the earlier studies of animal ecology written by Charles Sutherland Elton in England.
The management of wild animals in extensive wilderness areas of Africa, India and Soviet Union made major studies which possesses usual wildlife resources and retain a large areas of wild land. From the above analysis, the concept of conservation and its management cannot be studied in isolation of its historical growth.
Self Assessment Test
Trace the history of conservation and management in Europe and United States of America.
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