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Encyclopedia / Agriculture & Environment

Conservation

Specialty Knowledge entries in Conservation.

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Marine Spatial Planning

Marine spatial planning is a public process that analyzes and allocates the spatial and temporal distribution of human activities in ocean areas to achieve ecological, economic, and social objectives that have typically been specified through a political process. Rather than managing each activity, such as fishing, shipping, energy development, and conservation, in isolation, marine spatial

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Marine spatial planning is a public process that maps and allocates ocean space among competing uses such as fishing, shipping, energy, and conservation.

amboseli national park2c home of the african elephant 285120927068229

Poaching

Poaching is the illegal killing, capturing, or harvesting of wildlife in violation of hunting, fishing, or wildlife protection laws, and it remains one of the most direct and immediate threats to many endangered species worldwide. Unlike habitat loss or climate change, which operate gradually over years or decades, poaching can eliminate individual animals or entire

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Poaching is the illegal killing or capturing of wildlife in violation of protection laws, one of the most direct threats to endangered species.

Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone National Park, a Category II IUCN protected area

Protected area

A protected area is a clearly defined geographic space that is formally recognized, dedicated, and actively managed, through legal or other effective means, with the long-term goal of conserving nature along with the ecosystem services and cultural values that depend on it. The category covers everything from strictly off-limits wilderness to landscapes where people and

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A protected area is a legally recognized and actively managed geographic space dedicated mainly to the long-term conservation of nature.

A radio-collared gray wolf being released into the wild as part of a species reintroduction effort

Rewilding

Rewilding is an approach to large-scale nature restoration that aims to let natural processes, rather than ongoing human management, shape a landscape or seascape over time. It can range from simply stepping back and letting vegetation regenerate on its own to actively reintroducing species that once performed key ecological roles in an area, with the

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Rewilding is a conservation approach that restores landscapes by letting natural processes, and sometimes reintroduced species, take the lead over active human management.

alpha female of the canyon pack in the lower geyser basin 281670007978629

Species Reintroduction

Species reintroduction is the deliberate release of animals or plants into an area where the species previously existed but has since disappeared, typically as a result of hunting, habitat destruction, or other human-caused pressures. The goal is to reestablish a self-sustaining wild population in its former range, and the practice has become an important tool

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Species reintroduction is the deliberate release of animals or plants into an area where they once lived but had disappeared, to restore the population.

Portrait of Wangari Maathai in 2006

Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai (1940 to 2011) was a Kenyan scientist, environmental activist and political figure who founded the Green Belt Movement. In 2004 she became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, for linking sustainable development, democracy and peace. Early life and education Wangari Muta Maathai was born on 1 April 1940 in

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Wangari Maathai was a Kenyan environmentalist who founded the Green Belt Movement and won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize.

wildlife crossing in banff national park

Wildlife Corridor

A wildlife corridor is a strip or network of natural habitat that connects otherwise isolated patches of larger habitat, allowing animals to move safely between them for feeding, breeding, seasonal migration, and the exchange of genetic material between separated populations. Corridors have become one of the most widely implemented tools for countering the harmful effects

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A wildlife corridor is a strip of connected habitat that lets animals move safely between isolated patches to feed, breed, and migrate.

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Wildlife Trafficking

Wildlife trafficking is the illegal trade in animals, plants, and their derived products, encompassing everything from live animals captured for the exotic pet trade to processed goods such as ivory carvings, traditional medicine ingredients, and exotic leather products made from protected species. It operates as a sophisticated global criminal enterprise, often overlapping with other forms

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Wildlife trafficking is the illegal global trade in animals, plants, and their products, generating billions of dollars through organized crime networks.