conservationbased
Conservationbased is an adjective used to describe policies, programs, and practices that place the conservation of natural resources and ecosystems at the center of planning and decision making. It is not a single methodology but a descriptive label applied across disciplines to distinguish approaches that prioritize long-term conservation outcomes over short-term exploitation.
The term is used in environmental policy, land-use planning, agriculture, fisheries, water resource management, and energy
Core principles include precaution and prevention, integration of conservation goals with socioeconomic needs, stakeholder participation, adaptive
Common methods include designating protected areas or ecological corridors, conservation zoning and smart growth, payments for
Critics note challenges such as potential conflicts with development needs, enforcement gaps, data limitations, and distributional
Although the term is widely used descriptively rather than to denote a formal field, conservation-based approaches