Individual Conservation Actions Since conservation means keeping our resources productive for the future, there are things that everyone can do to contribute to conservation. It will be very difficult for governments to set aside enough examples of different kinds of native forest, reef, and other natural or beautiful areas as national parks and nature reserves to meet the needs for conservation, education, scientific research and recreation. Local tribal groups and land owners can organize to protect their own resources, as has been done with the biodiversity Conservation Areas in the South Pacific and the wildlife management areas in Papua New Guinea. Farmers and land owners can plan the use of their land to protect the soil for gardens and to maintain their supplies of food, firewood, forest products and water. For instance, trees can be left along stream banks, in upper watersheds and on steep slopes.
Trees are important, so anyone who cuts one down can plant another.
Fishermen can avoid using destructive methods like dynamite, poisons, coral breaking or small-mesh nets, and can try not to overfish any one area. They can even stop fishing for a time in some areas to allow the fish populations to recover, just as was often done under the old taboo system. Traditional Conservation People living traditional ways of life in the islands paid close attention to the natural environment and often managed it wisely. They knew when to use resources in moderation, or when a wrong practice would damage a resource for later use. Taboo areas in the forest or on the reef were conservation areas just like parks or reserves.