Environmental Conservation
The conservation strategies in North America are a great influence on the European colonial impact in the region. Surrounded by a great mass of natural habitat that is home to many other animals and forms a home for populace. The era before the coming of the European or their strategies and awareness development in the conservation process, the region was unable to maintain or care for the environment in a positive way. However, a number of factors are considered to have led to the development of conservation strategies in North America with the two considerate factors being tropical islands and the European colonialists in the region at the time. This paper, therefore, establishes the arguments that support the effect of the tropical islands and the European colonialists in the establishment and the development of conservation strategies and promotion of environmental consciousness.
The European colonialists sought to establish an area that served as a recreational vast and a place that reflected their home. The Romans and the Mediterranean sailors were considered great ship makers whose main resources were trees and other naturally acquired materials. Their colonies were areas to harvest the timber and the other materials used in building. The establishment of the cold temperate islands in the North American increased the interest of the European settlers in settling in these lands. They, therefore, established themselves with the posts in the area designed to reflect their home country. Many of the sailors, however, considered these areas a stopping point for refreshment or replenishing of their supplies (Unit 4, Introduction to Biological or Ecological Imperialism). As a result, there was a need to increase the conservation of the habitat and the natural topography of the place. On the other hand, timber cut from the forests around the houses was used in constructing longhouses and stockades. The leftovers were used as firewood to warm their homes and for cooking. The felling of trees left vast areas of the region bare with the exposure to rain and other natural factors leading to the loss of the nutrient capacity of the soil in the area.
The European also introduced subsistence farming in the area, which was a successful process owing to the temperature conditions of the place and the soil nutrients. Crosby (Unit 4, Introduction to Biological or Ecological Imperialism), asserts that Portuguese settlers are considered to have led to the introduction of sheep, goats, cattle, and woad among others in the islands in North America. The successful breeding and harvests increased the awareness of the fertility of these islands. As a result, the natural habitats and the influential systems such as a river catchment areas and the ground cover were conserved with the farmers in these islands establishing systems to increase their activities in the islands. To increase their farming processes in the region, the lands with natural ground cover were cleared and planted with other crops such as sugarcane.
On the other hand, the settlements of the Portuguese settlers in the island of Porto Santo led to the destruction of the natural ecosystem. The resolution of the Portuguese in Porto Novo was influential in the disruption of the natural habitat owing to their idea of releasing rabbits into the wilderness. Most of the rabbits, lacking a predator in the wild reproduced in large numbers leading to the destruction of the natural balance in the island. As a result, the Portuguese left for Madiera (Grove, Origins of Environmentalism,1990). However, with the increased number of rabbits in the region and their effect on the natural habitat, strategic solutions were imminent to ensure that the effect is contained. The huge number of rabbits in the area reduced the number of natural plants in the island, which left the land arable and unable to support other plants in the island.
Similarly, the settlement of the Europeans in the islands led to the destruction of the natural balance of the flora. The Europeans in Madiera sought to introduce exotic animal species in the area. Therefore, to create space for practicing the domestication of these animals, they cleared forests and sold the timber got for valuable prices that the timber had at the time. As a result, the island that had a natural habitat with beautiful scenery lost its natural vegetation habitat and was not replaced. The clearing process of the natural forests was done using fire, which has a significant impact on the growth of the plants (Beinart & Hughes, Forests and Forestry in India, 2007, 209-224). These changes had no significant effect at the time, but in the years to follow natural plantation was destroyed, and the plants failed to grow at the same rate as they did in the past. The effects of the fires used in the clearing of the naturally covered areas are the development of open grasslands and prairies, which support no agricultural activities.
The processes of environmental degradation in the islands increased the need for developing strategies to reduce their impact on the other islands. The tropical islands of North America were an attractive pull factor for the settlement of the settlers. However, to increase their activities such as farming and domestication, the natural habitat was destroyed. The soils of these islands were fertile to support agriculture and breeding of animals such as pigs, chicken, and cattle (Unit 5, The Transformation of the North American Landscape). However, the farming processes were not considerate of the impact that it would have on the natural balance of the area leading to infertile land with the passing of time. Therefore, in clearing land for cattle rearing and the sugar plantations, less land were left that supported pants and the natural balance of the ecosystem.
In conclusion, conservation strategies and environmental consciousness campaigns are a result of the increased systems the European settlers influenced in the islands in North America. Among the many issues that increased the need for devising conservation strategies and environmental consciousness campaigns are, poor land use, poor agricultural practice, and the inability to maintain a system that promoted good ground maintenance of these islands. The use of fire to clear the earth of the island reduced the nutrient content of the area leading to the development of arable lands and prairies. The increased effects of these activities on the islands increased the need to develop strategies that were meant to reduce the continued impact of these activities on other islands and North America. The establishments of sound systems of land use and the conservation of the natural resources in North America have helped retain the natural balance of the properties. Furthermore, through the development of strategies for maintaining the natural balance, it has become easy to identify the areas that are on the verge of being destroyed. Similarly, through conservation strategies interventions can be established to reduce the impact of natural degrading factors. These systems have also helped reduce the increased artificially induced environment degradation process, which has the adverse effect on the flora and natural habitats.

References
Unit 4 Introduction to Biological or Ecological Imperialism
Unit 5 The Transformation of the North American Landscape and the Gradual Recognition of the Need for Conservation.
Beinart, W., & Hughes, L. (2007). Forest and Forestry in India. In Environment and Empire (pp. 209 – 224). Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
Crosby, A. (2004). In Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900 (pp. 73-78). Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
Grove, R. (1990). The Origins of Environmentalism. Nature , 345, 11-14.