Nature conservation can be defined as 'the conservation of the full range of species and habitats indigenous to an area' - the 'conservation of biodiversity'.

Nature conservation management centres around deciding whether or not to intervene (i.e. manage) to conserve particular ecosystems or species. Like other disciplines, it appears often to lack a clear rationale, appearing ad hoc and arbitrary to outsiders.

The following principles, as an approach to Nature Conservation, have been developed by the National Trust for Scotland in a process that started with the NTS's Countryside and Nature Conservation Committee in December 2000 and have been collated, edited and expanded by James Fenton, the NTS Nature Conservation Adviser for the Highlands and islands region.

The principles do not attempt to justify why we should attempt to conserve nature in the first place but reasons are put forward as to why we need (or should try not) to manage nature.

General Principles Guiding Nature Conservation

1. Identify the value of what you have now, taking into account local, national and global perspectives	Evaluation must involve some agreed, consistent method of prioritising ecosystems & species (values can be different when viewed from different perspectives - what is common and can be seen as of low value in Scotland may be internationally very rare.) Before you can determine the importance of a site you first need to understand what ecosystems and species are present - and this is an ongoing process.
2. Determine whether it is appropriate to maintain the site in its current state, or allow future changes.	Nature is dynamic and ecosystems / species can change naturally over time. Thus you need to determine whether it is appropriate to preserve the current value, enhance the current value or accept a future change.
3. Priority should be given to ecosystems over species, and any action management should target only a few ecosystems.	Emphasis should be on the ecosystems present at a site rather than worrying about all the species present.
4. Action should be tailored to place.	Action should relate to the history of the site (ecological and cultural) - there should be a demonstrable link between any ecological management or restoration and the site's history.
5. Do not always hurry to change things.	Our impatience to rush out and manage can sometimes conflict with the time- consuming process of description and evaluation and can result in loss of existing value - is there always a hurry?
6. Always consider non-intervention as the first option in management	Non-intervention is a good principle to start with : it makes you think about management: 'So as little as possible, but as much as necessary'
7. Do not intervene if objectives are unclear	Any management action should have a clearly stated rationale.
8. Objectives should be holistic	Objectives for given ecosystems should relate to the management of the wider area, and take account of other legitimate interests.
9. Only intervene if there is a justifiable chance of success.	We often do not know the optimum management requirements for a given ecosystem or species; however following the precautionary principle, action to conserve a threatened species may be justified even if the outcome is uncertain.
10. Keep your action under constant review.	Action needs to be reviewed regularly both to determine its success or in the light of changing knowledge and values.

Reasons for managing nature

1. To correct past human-caused loss or damage.	Human activity may have caused local extinction or decline of an indigenous ecosystem or species: it may be possible to restore them.
2. To ensure there is no loss of current value.	Without management intervention, a valued ecosystem or species may decline through successional change or invasion by introduced species.
3. To enrich our local environment	An environment without any wildlife may not be a very nice place to live!
4. To promote awareness of nature.	Involving people in management can promote understanding and awareness.
5. To prevent global extinction of a species	Extinction is forever.

Reasons for not managing nature

1. Avoidance of non-rational bias	There is often no logical reason why we favour one species or ecosystem over another
2. To allow dynamism in ecosystems and species.	We often want to keep things the way they are - again for no logical reason
3. Cost and simplicity	Decision-making and targets are left to nature, not us!
4. Humility and understanding	If the whole world is managed by us, we will lose our understanding of natural processes and of nature itself.