Evidence-based conservation in the context of "Conservation ethic"

The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is an environmental, social, and political movement, that seeks to manage and protect natural resources, including animal, plant, and fungus species as well as their habitat for the future. Conservationists are concerned with leaving the environment in a better state than the condition they found it in. Evidence-based conservation seeks to use high quality scientific evidence to make conservation efforts more effective.

The early conservation movement evolved out of necessity to maintain natural resources such as fisheries, wildlife management, water, soil, as well as conservation and sustainable forestry. The contemporary conservation movement has broadened from the early movement's emphasis on use of sustainable yield of natural resources and preservation of wilderness areas to include preservation of biodiversity. Some say the conservation movement is part of the broader and more far-reaching environmental movement, while others argue that they differ both in ideology and practice.

Nature conservation is the ethic/moral philosophy and conservation movement focused on protecting species from extinction, maintaining and restoring habitats, enhancing ecosystem services, and protecting biological diversity. A range of values underlie conservation, which can be guided by biocentrism, anthropocentrism, ecocentrism, and sentientism, environmental ideologies that inform ecocultural practices and identities. There has recently been a movement towards evidence-based conservation which calls for greater use of scientific evidence to improve the effectiveness of conservation efforts. As of 2018 15% of land and 7.3% of the oceans were protected. Many environmentalists set a target of protecting 30% of land and marine territory by 2030. In 2021, 16.64% of land and 7.9% of the oceans were protected. The 2022 IPCC report on climate impacts and adaptation, underlines the need to conserve 30% to 50% of the Earth's land, freshwater and ocean areas – echoing the 30% goal of the U.N.'s Convention on Biodiversity.

Wrangel Island (Russian: О́стров Вра́нгеля, romanized: Ostrov Vrangelya, IPA: [ˈostrəf ˈvrangʲɪlʲə]; Chukot: Умӄиԓир, romanized: Umqiḷir, IPA: [umqiɬir], lit. 'island of polar bears') is an island of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia. It is the 92nd-largest island in the world and roughly the size of Crete. Located in the Arctic Ocean between the Chukchi Sea and East Siberian Sea, the island lies astride the 180th meridian. The International Date Line is therefore displaced eastwards at this latitude to keep the island, as well as the Chukchi Peninsula on the Russian mainland, on the same day as the rest of Russia. The closest land to Wrangel Island is the tiny and rocky Herald Island located 60 kilometres (32 nmi) to the east. Its straddling the 180th meridian makes its north shore at that point both the northeasternmost and northwesternmost point of land in the world by strict longitude; using the International Date Line instead, those respective points become Herald Island and Alaska's Cape Lisburne.

Most of Wrangel Island, with the adjacent Herald Island, is a federally protected nature sanctuary administered by Russia's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. In 1976, Wrangel Island and all of its surrounding waters were classified as a "zapovednik" (a "strict nature reserve") and, as such, receive the highest level of protection, excluding virtually all human activity other than conservation research and scientific purposes. In 1999, the Chukotka Regional government extended the protected marine area to 24 nmi (44 km) offshore. As of 2003, there were four rangers who reside on the island year-round, while a core group of about 12 scientists conduct research during the summer months. Wrangel Island was home to the last generally accepted surviving population of woolly mammoths, with radiocarbon dating suggesting they persisted on the island until around 4,000 years ago.

The conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is an environmental, social, and political movement, that seeks to manage and protect natural resources, including animal, plant, and other living species as well as their habitat for the future. Conservationists are concerned with leaving the environment in a better state than the condition they found it in. Evidence-based conservation seeks to use high quality scientific evidence to make conservation efforts more effective.

The early conservation movement evolved out of necessity to maintain natural resources such as fisheries, wildlife management, water, soil, as well as conservation and sustainable forestry. The contemporary conservation movement has broadened from the early movement's emphasis on use of sustainable yield of natural resources and preservation of wilderness areas to include preservation of biodiversity. Some say the conservation movement is part of the broader and more far-reaching environmental movement, while others argue that they differ both in ideology and practice.