Conservation is the care and protection of Earth’s natural resources – air, minerals, plants, soil, water and wildlife – so they can persist for future generations. It includes maintaining diversity of species, genes and ecosystems as well as functions of the environment like nutrient cycling (Wilson and Soule 2022). Conservationists have differing views about what is valuable and why – for example some believe that genetic, animal and landscape characteristics are only valuable in relation to their contributions to human interests, while others see intrinsic value in ecological entities regardless of their contribution to humanity (Soule 2020).
Biodiversity loss is the most pressing threat to conservation; the main reason is humans overexploit the planet’s land and seas leading to habitat destruction, pollution, climate change and more. The most obvious effect of this is extinction but even species that survive extinction can lose large parts of their original range and lose many of the benefits they once provided to ecosystems.
To write a conservation article, start by reading as much on the subject as possible – newspapers, magazines and wildlife websites are good places to get acquainted with the issue and the kind of articles that appear. Then choose a specific issue that you feel passionate about and want to make a difference in – e.g. canned lion hunting, plastic pollution or something similar. Finally, think about your audience – who is your article aimed at? This will help you narrow down your focus and tailor the tone.