Protection, restoration and management explained. Conservation is about far more than keeping nature as it is. It is the protection, restoration and careful management of wildlife and wild places, so they can thrive for the long term.
“Conservation” is a word we use a lot but rarely explain. At its simplest, it means looking after the natural world so that wildlife, habitats and the natural processes that support them can survive and flourish.
In practice it rests on three things that work best together: protecting what we have, restoring what has been lost or damaged, and managing places so that wildlife keeps doing well.
The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. The 2023 State of Nature report found that the abundance of the 753 land and freshwater species monitored has fallen by an average of 19% since 1970, and that around one in six of the 10,000+ species assessed in Great Britain is at risk of extinction.
The causes are well understood: intensive land use, pollution, invasive species and a changing climate. Why wildlife is declining
Protection is about stopping harm before it happens. It can come from the law, through protected species and designated sites, and from ownership, because the owner of a piece of land decides what happens on it.
Many of our reserves exist because people chose to protect them. Peep Out was bought in the 1990s with money raised through an appeal to our supporters, and Stoke Brook Wood was gifted to us by a supporter.
For the League, protection also means giving wildlife sanctuary from hunting and other cruelty, and several of our reserves, including St Johns Wood and New Ground, play an important part in doing that.
Restoration means repairing habitats that have been damaged, simplified or lost. It can be hands-on, such as felling storm-damaged conifers and replanting with a mix of native broadleaved trees, as we are doing at St Johns Wood.
It can also be hands-off, allowing ponds, scrub and rivers to find their own way, as at Cove Down.
At Cowley Wood, a remnant of Atlantic rainforest, our work is part of the Arlington Landscape Recovery Scheme, which aims to restore vital wildlife habitats across the wider area.
Many of the places we value most were shaped by people over centuries, and they need continued care to stay as they are. Hay meadows must be cut at the right time of year, woodland benefits from coppicing, and invasive plants such as rhododendron have to be controlled before they smother everything beneath them.
On our reserves that means cutting the Baronsdown hay crop in late summer, controlling scrub and bracken, repairing fences, and building and checking nest boxes.
Good management also depends on knowing what is there, which is why surveys and monitoring, from hazel dormouse box checks to butterfly counts, are a core part of the job.
Conservationists do not always agree on the best method. Some focus on single rare species, others on whole habitats, and others on restoring natural processes across entire landscapes.
Rewilding steps back and lets nature lead, while traditional conservation often manages a site to maintain a particular habitat or species. Both have a place, and the right choice depends on the site, the wildlife and what the land has been through.
What is rewilding, and how is it different from traditional conservation?
Conservation success is not a fixed picture. It might be a rare species holding on, a woodland slowly regaining its structure, or beavers creating new wetlands where there were none.
What matters is that we measure progress, learn from it and stay flexible.
Everyone can play a part, whether by making space for nature in a garden, joining a local group or supporting the work of charities like ours.
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