2. What Exactly is Environmental Conservation?
There is much to do when it comes to rebuilding and
protecting what’s left of natural resources and
the biodiversity within our ecosystems.
Environmental conservation is an umbrella term that
defines anything we do to protect our planet and
conserve its natural resources so that every living
thing can have an improved quality of life. We only
have one planet and we should all do our part to
ensure that it’s protected by combining our modern
ways of living with a deeper respect and
understanding of what nature provides.
Environmental conservationists understand that the
way we live is a reflection of how we feel about the
natural world, and our everyday habits show how
much we truly value all the things that the Earth
3. Environmental Conservation Facts:
There are more than 3,000 environmental conservation
organisations in the UK
Volunteers play a huge role in helping to make sure what
needs to be done in conservation is done. There are
approximately 200,000 volunteers in the industry
60% of the workforce is male
90% of the workforce is qualified at, or above, Level 2,
with more than 75% qualified to degree level (compared
to a UK average of 22%)
Vocational qualifications are increasingly being valued by
employers
Field identification skills remain a critical skills gap in
monitoring biodiversity and the impact of climate
change. Heritage Lottery Fund initiatives, including
training bursaries and Skills for the Future Projects, are
5. Air pollution
Is the introduction of harmful substances in the air
that results in detrimental impacts to the
environmental and humanity. Air pollution simply
makes the air unclean or contaminated. It occurs
when harmful substances such as foreign gases,
odours, dust, or fumes are released in the air at
levels that can harm the comfort or health of animals
and humans, or even destroy plant life.
Examples of air pollutants (substances that pollute
the air) include hydrocarbons, organic compounds,
dust particles, carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides, and
nitrogen oxides. Air pollution results from both
human and natural activities. Emissions from power
plants present a perfect example of human activities
contributing to air pollution whereas volcanic
eruptions and forest fires are some of the natural
6.
7. Water pollution
is the act of contaminating water bodies including rivers,
oceans, lakes, streams, aquifers, and groundwater. It
occurs when foreign harmful materials like chemicals,
waste matter, or contaminated substances are directly or
indirectly discharged into water bodies.
Any alterations in the chemical, physical, or biological
water properties qualify as water pollution. Very often, the
primary contributors to water pollution are human
activities since they introduce substances that
contaminate the water with harmful chemicals and toxic
materials. Water pollution is categorized into point
source, non-point source, and groundwater.
Point source water pollution occurs when the
contaminants enter a water body from a single
identifiable source while non-point source occurs as a
result of cumulative effects of different amounts of
contaminants. Groundwater pollution occurs through
infiltration and affects groundwater sources such as wells
or aquifers. Water is the considered the second most
polluted environmental resource after air pollution.
8.
9. Land Pollution
Is the destruction or decline in quality of the earth’s land
surfaces in term of use, landscape and ability to support
life forms. Many times, it is directly and indirectly caused
by human activities and abuse of land resources.
Land pollution takes place when waste and garbage is
not disposed off in the right manner thus, introducing
toxins and chemicals on land. It also occurs when people
dump chemical products to soils in the form of herbicides,
fertilizers, pesticides, or any other form of the consumer
by-products. Mineral exploitation equally leads to the
decline in quality of the earth’s land surfaces.
As such, it has grave consequences for human health,
plant life, and soil quality. Acid rain, construction sites,
solid waste, mineral exploitation, and agricultural
chemicals are the primary causes of land pollution.
10.
11. Soil Pollution
Takes place when chemical pollutants contaminate
the soil or degraded by acts such as mining,
clearance of vegetation cover, or topsoil erosion.
Usually, it happens when human activities directly or
indirectly introduce destructive chemicals,
substances, or objects into the soil in a way that
causes damage to the immediate earthly
environment.
As a consequence, soil losses its value of natural
minerals and nutrients compositions. Soil
degradation also contributes to soil pollution, and it
occurs as a result of over-grazing, over-farming, or
mining activities. The notable causes of soil pollution
include agricultural farming activities, waste dumping
12.
13. Noise Pollution
Is mostly an undesirable sound or sound which
generates horrible discomfort on the ears. Noise pollution
is defined as unpleasant and undesirable sound levels
that cause serious discomfort to all living things. It is
measured in decibels (dB).
Sound levels beyond 100 dB can cause permanent
hearing loss, and noise of around 90 dB causes auditory
weakness. The industrial sound limit according to the
World Health Organization (WHO) is 75 dB. In the
contemporary society, noise has become a permanent
aspect owing to the daily activities such as transportation,
industrial manufacturing, and technology. In contrast to
the other types of pollution, noise pollution lacks the
element of accumulation in the environment.
It merely occurs when sounds waves of intense pressure
reach the human ears and may even affect the body
muscles due to sound vibrations. Noise pollution similarly
affects marine and wildlife animals in the same manner it
affects humans, and can even cause their death.
14.
15. Thermal Pollution
Occurs when water bodies are degraded in terms of
altering their temperatures. Commonly, it happens when
people or industries undertake activities that suddenly
decrease or increase the temperature of a natural water
body which may include lakes, rivers, oceans or ponds.
In the current era, thermal pollution is a huge
menace and is mainly influenced by power plants and
industrial manufacturers that use water as a coolant.
Urban stormwater runoff from parking lots and roads also
discharges water of elevated temperatures into adjacent
water bodies. When water is either used as a coolant,
discharged from stormwater runoff at elevated
temperatures, or released from reservoirs with
unnaturally cold temperatures, it changes the natural
temperature of water bodies.
Therefore, thermal pollution is one aspect of the wider
subject of water pollution. The alterations of natural water
resource temperatures can have dire consequences on
aquatic life and the local ecosystems.
16.
17. Industrial Pollution
Is the release of wastes and pollutants generated by
industrial activities into the natural environment including
air, water, and land. The pollutants and wastes from
industries encompass air emissions, deposit of used
water into water resources, landfill disposal, and injection
of toxic materials underground. Industrial pollution can
adversely damage plants, kill animals, cause ecosystem
imbalance, and degrade the quality of life.
Leading industries such as power plants, steel mills,
sewage treatment plants, heating plants, and glass
smelting among other production, processing and
manufacturing companies are the contributors to
industrial pollution. They release smoke, effluents,
material wastes, toxic byproducts, contaminated
residues, and chemical consumer products that
eventually end up in the environment thereby causing
pollution.
18.
19. Light Pollution
Light pollution occurs due to lengthened and
excessive use of artificial lights, such that it results in
the brightening of the skies at night. As a
consequence, it upsets the activities and natural
cycles of wildlife and also affects the welfare of
humans. Whenever artificial lights are used where
they are not intended, it causes a nuisance.
For instance, too much outdoor light intruding into
neighbor’s bedrooms can disrupt their sleep.
Likewise, too much indoor light has implications on
the health of the inhabitants of that room. Light
pollution is also referred to as luminous pollution or
photo pollution. The types of light pollution include
glare, light trespass, and sky glow.
20.
21. Action Guidelines for environmental conservation:
Global environmental conservation is a critical challenge shared by
all humans. We are committed, therefore, to fulfilling our
responsibilities by assisting in the realization of an environmentally
harmonious and sustainable society as one of our management
priorities.
We will make efforts to contribute to society by developing highly
reliable technologies and production processes while accurately
understanding the needs related to the prevention of global warming,
conservation of resources, and preservation of the ecosystem.
Members of the board in charge of environmental conservation are
responsible for facilitating appropriate environmental conservation
activities. Departments responsible for environmental conservation
should endeavor to promote and ensure environmental conservation
activities, including improving environment related rules and
regulations and setting goals for environmental burden reduction.
These departments should also confirm that their environmental
conservation activities are conducted in a proper manner and ensure
that these activities are maintained and improved.
We will promote globally applicable business activities with the aim
of understanding and reducing environmental burdens at every
stage, including product research and development, design,
production, distribution, usage, and final disposal.
22. We will investigate and review the environmental impact
caused in the course of our business processes. We will also
introduce excellent technologies and materials useful to
safeguard the environment, in other words, to reduce
environmental burdens through energy and resource saving,
recycling, chemical substance management, consideration for
the ecosystem, and other measures.
Our environmental conservation efforts are not only to be
focused on observing international environmental regulations
and those of national and local governments, but also on
conserving the environment by implementing voluntary
environmental standards when necessary.
Regarding globally-applicable business activities, impact on
the local environment and community are to be considered. In
addition, measures that meet local communities’ requests
should be implemented.
We will educate our employees to take action in order to obey
environment-related laws, raise their global environmental
awareness, look upon society from a wide point of view, and
from a broad vantage point encourage their interest in
environmental conservation.
23. We will evaluate potential environmental problems
and prevent them from occurring. In the event that
any environmental problem occurs, we will take
appropriate measures to minimize the environmental
burden.
We will make efforts to disclose information on our
environmental conservation activities to our relevant
stakeholders. We will also actively communicate with
these stakeholders so as to strengthen mutual
understanding and forge cooperative relationships
with them.
