ABSTRACT
Environmental conservation has a long history within environmental movements both globally and nationally, particularly within the US. While conservation and environmental stewardship activities have occurred over time and across numerous geographies, the version of conservation that came to dominate within the US became a powerful model exported around the globe. Because of this, this chapter focuses heavily on how conservation (and its kin, preservation) developed in the US and what it currently looks like organizationally. Additionally, the chapter discusses how social justice issues have tainted US environmental conservation from its very beginnings and have therefore strongly influenced how environmental conservation has developed internationally. The chapter ends by providing an overview of environmental conservation efforts beyond the US, including in Western Europe, given its strong historical connections with the US, and in various regions of the Global South, where large, often US-based organizations have had substantial influence.
