Conservation ethic is an ethic of resource use, allocation, exploitation, and protection.
Its primary focus is upon maintaining the health of the natural world: its forests, fisheries, habitats, and biological diversity.
Secondary focus is on materials conservation and energy conservation, which are seen as important to protect the natural world.
To conserve habitat in terrestrial ecoregions and stop deforestation is a goal widely shared by many groups with a wide variety of motivations.
Some of the guidelines for the Care of Natural History Collections:
I. Premise
A. Inherent value of specimens: Specimens in natural history collections are preserved to document presence in given localities at a given time, to validate past research, and to be available for research and other educational purposes. Specimens are collected as a sample of a region's natural and cultural environment (past and present), then are often prepared in some fashion so as to make them useful for research, exhibition, or educational purposes. Subsequent preparation, sampling, or destructive analysis may be necessary to fulfill the goals of research or legitimate educational uses. Reseach enhances the value of specimens.
B. Balance between use and preservation: Associated with the responsibility of ongoing research and educational use is the obligation of the institution to maximize the value of each specimen for future use. This applies not only to the data associated with each specimen, but also to the physical and chemical integrity of the specimen. Thus, it is critical that the demands placed on natural history specimens for current research and educational uses are balanced with the need for preservation of the specimens for future uses.
C. Caring for collections of specimens: Most natural history collections contain thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of individual pieces that require care. An individual specimen may contain hundreds of related pieces. Thus guidelines for collection management and care must take into consideration the reality of large quantities of specimens and numerous pieces per specimen.
D. Inherent value of documentation and archival records: Evidence of the identification, condition, history, or scientific value of a specimen, artifact, or collection when recorded in a permanent manner enhances the value of the specimen. These records may actually have to substitute for the specimen or artifact should the specimens themselves deteriorate or be destroyed.
E. Context of the institutional mission and resources: An institution's program for managing and caring for collections exists within the context of the institution's mission and resources.
II. Objectives
A. Management and care of collections of natural history materials should be governed by respect for the scientific, historic, physical, cultural, and aesthetic integrity of the specimen or artifact and its associated data. Concern for its future should include protection against unnecessary damage, loss, or alteration that might affect its future research, educational, or exhibition potential.
B. Collection management and care should meet the highest professional standards; it must be compatible with and enhance access to collections for the intended scientific and educational uses of the specimens or artifacts.
C. All processes for collecting, preparing, and sampling, as well as the maintenance and curation of specimens or artifacts, should be analyzed relative to the goals of use and preservation to insure that techniques and materials are thoroughly documented, follow sound preservation practices, and fulfill the desired objectives for the specimen's intended use.
D. Every effort must be made to minimize the level of risk facing specimens and artifacts as a result of storage and use (e.g., by using appropriate storage units, providing adequate security, carefully screening on-site users and borrowers, and employing conservation standards for methods and materials used in packing and shipping).
E. Conservation and preservation treatment should meet the highest professional standards. Generally, the preferred approach for research specimens or artifacts will involve preventive conservation. Physical or chemical modifications to a specimen may adversely affect its analytical potential. Since it is not possible to anticipate uses of specimens that may become possible with advances in technology, methods that alter specimens as little as possible are preferred. Techniques and materials selected should be those that are the most stable and have the greatest longevity. In addition, many treatments must be monitored over time to understand more fully their effects on specimens and artifacts. Added materials should be removable whenever possible. Exceptions must be fully justified and documented.
F. Documentation should meet the highest professional standards and follow recommendations of relevant professional societies (e.g., Fitzgerald, 1988; Garrett, 1989). Media used for documentation should be preserved according to professional archival standards.
G. It is unethical to modify or to conceal the true nature of a specimen or artifact through restoration. The presence and extent of restoration should be detectable, although it need not be conspicuous. Methods and materials used must be fully documented.
H. Destructive sampling of specimens or artifacts must be justified by the quality and quantity of the information to be gained, evidence that the information is available only through the proposed sampling, and evidence that the investigator has the necessary expertise to extract that information. Procedures should be established to prevent unnecessary sampling. Sampling must be fully documented and approved in advance by individuals delegated with such authority (Cato, 1993).
