19.5 Conservation

Cambridge O Level Biology (5090)

2026 📋 Syllabus Objectives

By the end of this topic, you should be able to:

  1. Discuss reasons for conservation of species with reference to:
    • (a) maintenance of biodiversity
    • (b) reducing extinction
    • (c) protecting vulnerable environments
  2. Explain how forests can be conserved using education, protected areas, quotas and replanting
  3. Explain how fish stocks can be conserved using education, closed seasons, protected areas, controlled net types and mesh size, quotas and monitoring
  4. Describe a sustainable resource as one which is produced as rapidly as it is removed from the environment so that it does not run out

📖 Main Content

https://cambridgeassistant.com

Section 1: Why Do We Need Conservation?

Conservation means carefully managing and protecting nature — including animals, plants, and the environments they live in — so that they survive for future generations.

Human activities such as deforestation (cutting down forests), overfishing, pollution, and building cities are destroying natural habitats and driving many species toward extinction. Conservation is our effort to reverse or slow down this damage.

There are three key reasons for conserving species:

(a) Maintenance of Biodiversity

Biodiversity means the variety of all living things — including every species of plant, animal, fungus, and microorganism — found in a particular area or on Earth as a whole.

  • A healthy ecosystem (a community of living organisms and their environment) needs many different species working together.
  • In an ecosystem, organisms depend on each other. For example, plants need insects to pollinate them, birds need insects to eat, and predators need prey. If one species disappears, it can disrupt the entire food chain or food web.
  • High biodiversity means an ecosystem is more stable and resilient — it can recover more easily from disturbances like disease or drought.
  • Many species also provide direct benefits to humans:
    • Food — crops and wild food sources
    • Medicine — many drugs come from plants and animals (for example, the painkiller aspirin was originally derived from willow tree bark)
    • Raw materials — timber, fibres, and other natural products
    • Ecosystem services — clean air, clean water, fertile soil, and pollination of crops

If we allow biodiversity to fall, we risk losing species before we even discover what they could offer us.

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