Conservation South Africa's earliest conservation organisations, formed in the 1800s, were game preservation associations, concerned primarily with protection of wildlife. These were formed by hunters concerned about declining numbers of wild animals. Single species conservation formed the focus of conservation efforts in South Africa until fairly recently, when people became aware that all species are dependant on their habitat and life support systems. Today, conservation has come to be described as the wise use of the earth's resources such that they will be able to support, or sustain, all life for generations ahead.
Conservation is practised in different ways in different situations.
Conservation is also applied to our cultural heritage, thus including things of historical importance, such as old buildings, battle fields and oral traditions. Some people argue that the creation has an intrinsic value and thus a right to exist, independently of human use. Christian belief is that people will achieve harmony with nature through Jesus Christ. From ecology we have learnt of the interdependence of all living and non-living things. All things are connected, like the blood that unites one family.