Conservation is the sustainable use and management of natural resources including wildlife, water, air, and earth deposits, both -- renewable and non-renewable.

Preservation, in contrast to conservation, attempts to maintain in their present condition areas of the Earth that are so far untouched by humans.

http://www.ecoca.ro/meteo/tutorial/Sustainability/Older/Conservation_and_Preservation.html

http://bracelpa.org.br/bra2/?q=en/node/226

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_(ethic)

I do agree with @Subash. I will bring some more resources about the issue. "In a world where words like sustainability are used in many contexts with widely varying meanings, we forget that the environmental community was once very choosy in its wording. Terms have specific meanings such that a single word can communicate a philosophy and accompanying ethics. Conservation and preservation are two such terms. The first denotes an effort to sustain a space or resource for perpetual use. Preservation denotes a fortress-like approach to nature, walling off human influence in order to maintain pristine “wilderness”. "

http://study.com/academy/lesson/conservationists-vs-preservationists-definition-differences.html

http://www.southernfriedscience.com/?p=11746

Conservation means to reduce the usage of natural resources, to use natural resource more efficiently; in particular, non-renewable resources.

Preservation means to protect or save natural resources in the present for the purpose of using them in the future. If exploitation occurs at a future date, the basis of protecting the resources today is so that future generations are able to benefit from them under better conditions.

Philosophical remark: In a continuous dynamic world nothing is conserved/preserved in its current physical state. Systems always will change and will never go back to their initial physical state. Despite this remark, availability of natural resources (e.g. for consumption) can be sustained ignoring the exact physical state of the natural sources? 

I do agree with all the above authors

both are being used appropriately

conservation-reflects integrated approach

preservation reflects both direct and integrated for the benefit of future generation

EX. Integrated watershed management program

I generally agree with the responses of various stakeholders to your question.

The concept of resource conservation is much more appeal to the idea of natural resource management using the concept of sustainable development. For against the notion of preservation is related to the physical aspect of the specific protection to animal or plant species to prevent their extinction

Conservation Planning

• Habitat conservation planning—integrated habitat conservation planning, includes development, environmental compliance, implementation, and public involvement for conservation plans.
• Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) preparation—conservation planning process in areas such as conservation biology, natural resource management and habitat restoration, land and water use planning, regulatory compliance, economic analysis, public involvement and outreach, and spatial analysis using geographic information systems (GIS).

http://www.icfi.com/markets/environment/restoration-and-conservation

Preservation

The extraordinary cultural and natural diversity of the world is an important source of life and inspiration for humanity. Its preservation should be a responsibility shared by the whole international community. The ‘Open Initiative on the Use of Space Technologies to Support the World Heritage Convention’, is a framework permanently open to new partners that are willing to assist UNESCO in its endeavours. UNESCO embraces an international network of innovative organizations, leading space corporations, space research institutions and talented individuals. These networks of partners are bringing to developing countries space technologies for the conservation of the world’s cultural and natural heritage. 

http://www.unesco.org/science/remotesensing/upload/files/brochure_entiere_revew.pdf

Explanation has given by many Scientist here. Anyhow conservation and preservation both are important in the present condition. Both are very difficult task with this industrialisation and civilization. Disaster is in high speed how to stop the disappearance  of biological resources that too in developing countries.

To conservationists (from the articles above), "some will be available for future generations" to continue a way of life (Rethink,Reduce,Recycle,Repair).To preservationists, ""every living thing has a right to exist and should be preserved"Arts inforces people to think about ecological problems and to be responsible for future of the planet, to prevent harm to common resources. Thus, Martin Wittfooth (Canada) shows interconnectivity of animals with anthropogenic factors.http://my-fine.com/blog/43522788443/Kartinyi-Martin-Wittfooth---zhivotnyie-i-ekologiya?utm_campaign=transit&utm_source=main&utm_medium=page_0&domain=mirtesen.ru&paid=1&pad=1&mid=F731C13DCE37EAD827AEB5A3CF9933B4 

A hot discussion !

New original theory about global warming because reduction of natural resurces in gas and oil

I would like you and the readers, meet my new hypotheses and theories on global warming of our planet in recent decades. In fact, I think layer of oil and gas around the red-hot core of our planet has the role of thermal isolator from heat in the depth of the Earth! With constant and increasing exploatation of oil and gas, the isolating layer decreases and the surface of the globe is becoming warmer. The result is a progressive warming and far-reaching consequences to wildlife and people on this planet.

Sincerely,

Prof. Dr. Nikola N. Ilanković. MD, PhD,

University of Belgrade, Serbia

Using natural resources sensibly and judiciously to meet human needs and maintain a standard of living to which people are accustomed. Conservation is focussed at sound natural resource management (including reducing consumption, reusing products, and recycling products) within given social and economic constraints, producing goods and services to maximum numbers of populace for a longer time without depleting natural ecosystem diversity and acknowledging the naturally dynamic character of biological systems.

Preservation, on the other hand stands for maintaining or keeping what already exists. It is intended to preserve natural resources in their natural state, unscathed by human intervention. It is also an act of keeping an object safe and free from spoilage or decay maintaining its quality or condition at the same time.

In conservation, you can protect, improve and wisely use the resource, but in preservation you cannot do those except just protection

In my humble opinion, the scholars ought to teach the public (in a simplified manner) the difference between preservation & conservation in order to push for a collective endeavor for a better quality of life:   

To preserve an object is to protect it from change while to conserve an object is to use an object wisely with the knowledge that it could run out.

Most of the 20th century has been plagued by a shameful negligence of preservation & conservation. The grave consequences, on the ecosystem, are witnessed now & they will escalate in the future unless each one of us moves to stop attacks on nature & to halt the squander of natural resources.

I only know what those words mean to me. "Preservation" means to maintain the current condition. Conservation means to use a resource wisely. But in many cases the terms are used interchangeably. So if I was using the terms I would define them. I am a Supervisor of a Soil and Water Conservation District and we try to improve soil. So in our minds conservation goes beyond preservation. I am a site steward for an organization that calls itself an archaeological conservancy. But everyone knows that archaeology can not be preserved due to many factors including nature. It can be conserved in the sense of not allowing it to be looted or overly disturbed by those visiting or studying it. When discussing a historical building the term normally used is preservation. You do not "conserve" a work of art.

So these terms may not always have a precise meaning but may have some traditional settings for their use. But I think many of the above comments are on target in saying that preservation is more of a static goal to maintain as it is and conservation is more of a longer term plan to maximize benefits. But common usage is important. One might wish to preserve their reputation but I have never heard anyone say they want to conserve their reputation.

It was an interesting question and makes one think.

.   

Conservation incorporate the sustainability concept, that means, human being can use the natural resources but upto their regenerating capacity. In other words they should be used responsibly. Under preservation the natural resources should not be consumed by humans and should instead be maintained in their pristine form. Hence the difference lies in the degree of ‘use’ or ‘consumption’ by human being.

I'd add that "preservation" depends on what time in history you select.  You want to go back 100 years, 500 years?  Also, sometimes preservation leaves out long-term (conservation) uses of local peoples. Often those small-scale organizational and technolgical rules are disrupted by more global forces.  Leaving the people who were/are on the landscape out of the landscape is often a problem in preservation.

 Dear Abhijit Mitra,

Thank you for bringing up such issue. I have really understood the two concepts Preservation and Conservation.  Kudos to the sage researches here. Preservation has to do with protection form harm, spoilage while Conservation has to do with sensible and prolonged use. With respect to specific natural resources mentioned, is there any research article treating either of the concepts in greater details whosoever that have it should please help out Thanks

While maintaining we must develop the habit of sustainable use of natural resources.

The two terms are different but6 there is also a lot of overlap. They both relate to a future benefit. If you preserve a food item it is available in the future. If you conserve the use of a food item some of it will be available longer than if it was not conserved. So the goal in both cases is to have a future benefit.

In some cases the methods are the same also. Preserving an archaeology site might employ the same methods as used to conserve soil e.g. reduce erosion.

So I think it is just as much a mistake to see them as synonyms or totally different.

Many pairs of words are like that. With water often there are goals related to quantity also quality. In both cases the overall goal is to maximize the utility of the water. One might wish to preserve the current quantity and quality. One may also want to conserve  the use of water and the biologic conditions that maintain or improve water quality.

So in some case the choice of word is historical. We do watershed preservation not watershed conservation.

Oh what about "restoration"?

According to me, there is a gradient : Conservation do not prevent the sustainable use of natural ressources. For exemple, conservation does not forbid hunting or fishing or any other exploitation. Protection is used in a sens that it allows the recreational use of habitats but not of species. Preservation is the absolute protection, with no exploitation at all, no use, even recreational. Do you agree with such a gradient?

Protecting Natural Resources!

Preservation of the natural environment is essential for maintaining community sustainability. Our main goal is to protect successfully and restore our natural resources like water, energy, air, climate, biodiversity, forests, land, ecosystems...

http://www.sustainable.org/environment

Most of the answers provided here seem to effectively capture the distinction, although the two positions are not always clearly discernible, and the terms are sometimes used interchangeably, even by conservationists and preservationists themselves. Nonetheless, the distinction is important to recognize, as several critiques of "conservation" that I've seen are, in reality, more accurately directed towards "preservation," and vice-versa.

With respect to the argument that neither approach is viable given the dynamic systems involved, many conservationists and preservationists would probably argue that such arguments are misleading and miss the point of conservation or preservation. When nature and the use-values it provides are conceptualized as processes rather than static entities, the objective of conservation (and, arguably to a lesser degree, preservation) becomes clearer as the effort to consciously regulate humanity's social metabolism of these processes in such a way that they continue to provide use-values necessary to human development. Preservation has a similar objective, but tends to emphasize the minimization of what is seen as humanity's presence in these processes.

Although important, this distinction is more accurately recognized as one line of fracture among many within environmental sciences and sociology, and excessive emphasis on this particular one tends to elide other equally, if not more, important distinctions. Here are references to three interesting articles along these lines:

• Conservationist criticisms of preservation: Sarkar, S. (1999). Wilderness preservation and biodiversity conservation --- keeping divergent goals distinct. BioScience 49: 405-412.

  Article Wilderness Preservation and Biodiversity Conservation: Keepi...

• Preservationist criticisms of conservation: Mathews, F. (2016). From biodiversity-based conservation to an ethic of bio-proportionality. Biological Conservation 200: 140-148.

  Article From biodiversity-based conservation to an ethic of bio-prop...

• Important distinctions and convergences are overlooked in an exclusive focus on conservation vs. preservation: Holmes, G., C. Sanbrook and J.A. Fisher. (2017). Understanding conservationists' perspectives on the new-conservation debate. Conservation Biology 31: 353-363.

  Article Understanding conservationists’ perspectives on the new cons...

conservation entails all procedures considered or undertaken in order to manage and maintain the natural resourses to avoid overdependence by human while preservation refers to proper planning methods undertaken in order to protect the ecosystem from being depleted

Conservation of natural resources is about maintaining its original state or current condition using various restoration measures whereas Preservation is non-recurrent action of minimizing deterioration of resources and preventing future damage.

The differences in meaning derived from the words by conservationist's vs preservationists seem to me to be due to the lack of understanding of the inclusiveness of the word conservation. The range of different protected areas covered in the IUCN is inclusive of different types of conservation areas - including Cat 1a "strict nature reserves". Rather than looking at the differences between conservation and preservation by building human-made fences, we should look at where the two words converge and work together to conserve/preserve our natural environment.

https://conservationmag.org/en/environment-page/what-are-the-differences-between-conservation-and-preservation

Thirty-two years after first publishing its List of Wild Animals Under State Priority Conservation, China has finally made an update, more than doubling the size of the list. Key additions include wolves and many endangered bird species...

The new list now bears the promise of China’s forestry and agricultural ministries to work with local governments to further identify and safeguard the habitats of listed species...

https://supchina.com/2021/02/17/a-new-hope-for-chinas-endangered-animals/

For a long time now, the world has been staring at a crisis brought about by environmental degradation and climate change. The World Nature Conservation Day, observed on July 28 annually to raise awareness about protecting nature and conserving natural resources, serves as a clarion call for us to commandeer all resources and direct all our efforts towards saving this tiny blue dot we call Earth...

https://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/science/world-nature-conservation-day-july-28-persevere-to-preserve-there-is-no-planet-b/2298671/