CONSERVATION
The sensible and careful management of natural resources (Sustainable use)

Ex: Have people buy paper made from recycled paperproducts so we dont have to cut down as many trees

PRESERVATION

Setting aside undisturbed areas, maintaining them in a pristine state and protecting them from human activities.

Ex: Wertheim Wildlife Refuge in Shirley

RESTORATION

Bringing a damaged ecosystem back to its unspoiled, natural condition

Ex: A prairie restored in Kansas, with bison reintroduced to the area and periodic wildfires allowed to burn

REMEDIATION

Using chemical, biological or physical methods to remove chemically acitve pollutants

Ex: Putting limestone in a lake to neutralize the effects of acid rain

RECLAMATION

The return of massively scarred, denuded or devasted land to a condition that is enivronmentaly useful and socially and politically acceptable.

Ex: Complying with the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act

MITIGATION

The attempt to make an adverse environmental impact less severe

Ex: Planting trees to absorb carbon dioxide to reduce global warming