The act of protecting and preserving natural resources and the environment.

• A. Preservation
• B. Conservation
• C. Protection
• D. Stewardship

Answer: (B)

Conservation focuses on using natural resources wisely while keeping ecosystems intact for the future. It combines safeguarding with the idea of sustainable use, so protecting what we have and ensuring it remains available over time is at the heart of it. That makes it the best fit for the idea of protecting and preserving the environment because it explicitly includes both guarding resources and maintaining their use for the long term.

Preservation aims to keep nature in its current state with minimal or no use, which isn’t the same as using resources wisely. Protection is about shielding from harm but doesn’t always involve ongoing management for sustainability. Stewardship centers on responsible care and moral obligation, which overlaps with conservation but is more about attitude than the specific practice of managing resources for long-term use.