Wildlife conservation

Wildlife conservation, organized supervision of the environment that protects the native plant and animal life. Without good environmental management many species would become extinct (killed off) or seriously endangered (greatly diminished in number). Human activities have caused the decline of native species, including hunting and clearing land for crops. Plant life has become endangered through land development and industrial pollution. U.S. National Parks, first developed by President Theodore Roosevelt, protect wilderness areas. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) has created the Red Data Book, a publication that reports the status of endangered species worldwide. Conservation of plants and animals is important for many reasons: their beauty, their importance in the ecological balance of an area, their scientific and medical value, their economic value to an area.

See also: Endangered species.