In all civilizations and among all peoples there has long been the idea of the need to protect Nature. To a greater extent in some, and to a lesser extent in others. But the fact that the land, the rivers, the forest and the animals that live in it are a lasting value, maybe the main value that Nature possesses, has been understood by man for a long time. And nature reserves probably arose long before the word “reserve” appeared. So, even Peter the Great, who cut down all the forest in Zaonezhye for the construction of the fleet, prohibited to touch with an axe the forests, which are located in the vicinity of the waterfall Kivach.
For a long time, the main practical tasks of ecology were confined precisely to environmental protection. But in the XX century this traditional frugality, which began to fade away under the pressure of the developing industry, was not enough. The degradation of nature began to turn into a threat to the very life of society. This led to the emergence of special environmental laws, to the creation of a system of nature reserves like the famous Askania Nova. Finally, a special science was born that studied the possibility of preserving the relic areas of Nature and endangered populations of certain living species. Gradually people began to understand that only the richness of Nature, the diversity of living species ensure life and the future of man himself. Today this principle has become fundamental. Nature has lived without man for billions of years and now can live without him, but man can not exist outside of full-fledged biosphere.
Humanity is faced with the problem of its survival on Earth. The future of our species is in question. Mankind may face the fate of the dinosaurs. The only difference is that the extinction of the former rulers of the Earth was caused by external causes, while we may perish due to our inability to use our power wisely.
This is the central problem of modern science (though it may not be realized by everyone yet).
The exact translation of the Greek word “ecology” is the study of our own home: the biosphere in which we live and of which we are a part. In order to solve the problems of human survival, we must first know our own home and learn to live in it! To live happily for a long time! And that concept of “ecology”, which was born and entered the language of science in the last century, it referred only to one aspect of the life of the inhabitants of our common home. Classical (more precisely, biological) ecology is only a natural part of the discipline that we now call human ecology or modern ecology.
The original meaning of any knowledge, of any scientific discipline, is to comprehend the laws of our own home, that is, that world, that environment, on which our common fate depends. From this perspective, all sciences, born of the Human Mind, are part of a kind of general science of how man should live on Earth, and what he must govern his behavior, not only to preserve himself, but also to ensure the future of his children, his grandchildren, his people and humanity as a whole. Ecology is a science with an eye to the future. And it is built on the principle that the values of the future are no less important than the values of the present. It is a science of how to pass nature, our common home to our children and grandchildren, so that they could live in it better and more comfortably than we do! So that everything necessary for human life is preserved in it.