Historic and Environmental Conversation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Historic and Environmental Conversation - Essay Example The concept of historic preservation is mainly used by the English and the Americans but the other dialects refer to the same as â€Å"heritage conservation† or â€Å"heritage preservation†. The term is commonly used by professionals to refer to the preservation of the built environment as opposed to the preservation or the conservation of wildlife or forests (Forsyth 10). Environmental conservation is a concept that has a resemblance with historic preservation. The only difference is that environmental conservation is concerned with the preservation of the natural environment that includes plants, animals and natural resources (Mauro 4). The environment is defined as the sum of everything that surrounds a living organism, including natural forces, other living organisms that in essence provide conditions for growth and development as well as danger and damage to the living organism. Therefore, environmental conservation is a term that goes hand in hand with natural con servation that involves the protection of nature (Mauro 6). Historical Conservation The idea of historic conservation and natural conservation dates back to the 17th century in England. Members of the Royal Society of England often had antiquarian interests and, therefore, most of them were involved in conservation efforts during this time. This was done for various reasons; one of them was to conserve history for the future generations especially the buildings that had an impact on a country (Simon 335). These efforts by the Royal Society of England in the UK led to the establishment and adoption of the Ancient Monument Protection Act in 1882. Later in the 20th century, the UK’s Ancient and Monuments act was passed in 1913 to protect or preserve defined decayed and obsolete structures of great historical or associative interest. The act was because of the continued modernization that meant the destruction of the older buildings to pave way for the newer improved structures ( Simon 336). During the twentieth century, the UK government under the National Trust Organization started with the preservation of historic houses continuously increasing its scope to cover other buildings of historic significance. In 1944, the UK’s legislature passed the Town and country Planning Act and the subsequent Town and Country planning Act in 1990. This acts increased the pace toward historic preservation on a high scale. Apart from these acts, other court cases from pressure groups and movements also contributed to the first pace of historical conservation (Feilden 35). Preservation efforts in the United States began in the early 19th century with the preservation of the George Washington’s Mount Vernon in 1858. This was later followed by an association founded in 1889 called the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities, which was the United States first statewide historic conservation group (Forsyth 50). Another historical building that foll owed in the 20th century is the Washington headquarters state historic site in New York in 1961. One of the first architectural firms that was famous in its bid to preserve historic buildings was Simons & Lapham. It was influential in crafting the first historical ordinance in Charleston in 1930. This gave the city regulatory means by which it could prevent the destruction of historic buildings. Earlier on in 1925, there were massive efforts to preserve the French Quarter buildings in New Orleans and