Humans have always depended on the environment, and we have always been tempted to use it up. Every time we've mismanaged the land, water, or forests we rely on, the lesson arrived painfully and late. Those lessons got passed down as proverbs, laws, codes, songs, and poems. Conservation ethics have existed through history. For at least 4,000 years people have been reminding each other, "Please don't wreck it. We will need it later."
Today the best-known version is the Leave No Trace Center's 7 Principles. But the idea is far older than the early 1990s, and older than any of the quotes below. Here is a timeline of memorable conservation quotes and outdoor codes, from ancient scripture to the trailhead sign. Enjoy them, and share them with the next person who wants to carve their initials in a tree.
Long Before Writing: Conservation Is Older Than Words
Conservation ethics didn't start with a book, a treaty, or a laminated sign at the trailhead. They started with hunter-gatherers, who had a practical problem: eat the last of the food and you have no more food. Nobody left a written code from 200,000 years ago, so the earliest chapters are inferred. But living traditions preserve rules that are clearly ancient, and they show up on nearly every continent:
- Australia: Aboriginal peoples managed the landscape with carefully timed, small fires. The practice, often called fire-stick farming, cleared brush, encouraged new growth, and reduced the risk of catastrophic wildfires. Prescribed burning, a modern land-management "innovation," is tens of thousands of years old.
- Pacific Northwest: Many First Nations held first-salmon ceremonies, treating the first fish of the run with ritual respect so the rest could make it upstream to spawn.
- Hawaii: The kapu system closed certain fish and areas during spawning seasons, and land was organized in ahupuaŹ»a, wedge-shaped sections running from mountain to sea, so each community managed a full watershed.
- Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy: Leaders are traditionally taught to consider the impact of decisions on the seventh generation to come, a planning horizon most modern budgets can't manage past the next quarter.
- Arabian Peninsula: The hima was a protected pasture where grazing and cutting were restricted, a system that predates Islam and was later adopted into Islamic law.
- Japan and India: Sacred groves (Shinto chinju no mori and the village groves of India) protected patches of forest for centuries simply by declaring them holy. It turns out "the gods will be upset" outperforms most signage.
Conservation Ethics In Writing
Writing came later, but the message was already in circulation. What follows is how it got recorded.
"Tear not up by the roots the Kakambira tree: destroy thou all malignity." (Rig Veda Samhita, VI-48-17, trans. Ralph T. H. Griffith, 1896)
Ancient Hindu texts repeatedly ask readers to protect grass, trees, animals, and water from destruction and pollution. Nature holds a high place in the tradition and is itself considered divine. [Read more environmental quotes from Hindu texts here.]
"God blessed them. God said to them, 'Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'" (Genesis 1:28, WEB)
Many readers understand this verse as casting humanity as caretakers of creation, and the stewardship theme runs throughout the rest of scripture. [Read more about it here.]
"That each day I may walk unceasingly on the banks of my water, that my Soul may repose on the branches of the trees which I planted, that I may refresh myself under the shadow of my sycamore."
Even in the afterlife, this Egyptian wanted a well-tended yard. The inscription comes from an ancient tomb; the translator is unknown, and the quote appears in Branches of the Tree of Life: The Collected Poems of Abiodun Oyewole 1969-2013 (2Leaf Press, 2014, p. 13).
"Bring no harm to the trees, nor burn them with fire."
The first Islamic caliph gave this instruction to his armies, making it one of history's earlier "leave the forest out of it" military policies. Source: Aboul-Enein and Zuhur, Islamic Rulings on Warfare, Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College (2004), p. 22.
"By felling the trees which cover the tops and sides of mountains, men in all climates seem to bring upon future generations two calamities at once; want of fuel and a scarcity of water."
Baron Alexander von Humboldt wrote this in his Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America During the Years 1799-1804 (English edition, 1852), translated from French. He was one of the first scientists to link forest loss to water and climate, and he did it before anyone thought to call it "environmental science."
"THE EXERCISE OF CARE WITH SMALL FIRES IS THE BEST PREVENTIVE OF LARGE ONES. Therefore all persons are requested--
This may be one of the first lists of responsible campfire guidelines, and the all-caps opening is a fine example of early-1900s subtlety. It's from a series of notices the U.S. Department of Agriculture posted in forests, and it was reprinted in the first Boy Scouts Handbook (1911, p. 159). [View here:]
Circa 1700 B.C.: The Rig Veda Protects a Tree
"Tear not up by the roots the Kakambira tree: destroy thou all malignity." (Rig Veda Samhita, VI-48-17, trans. Ralph T. H. Griffith, 1896)
Ancient Hindu texts repeatedly ask readers to protect grass, trees, animals, and water from destruction and pollution. Nature holds a high place in the tradition and is itself considered divine. [Read more environmental quotes from Hindu texts here.]
Ancient Hebrew Scripture (Date Debated): Stewards, Not Just Residents
"God blessed them. God said to them, 'Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'" (Genesis 1:28, WEB)
Many readers understand this verse as casting humanity as caretakers of creation, and the stewardship theme runs throughout the rest of scripture. [Read more about it here.]
Circa 1400 B.C.: An Egyptian Tomb Requests Shade
"That each day I may walk unceasingly on the banks of my water, that my Soul may repose on the branches of the trees which I planted, that I may refresh myself under the shadow of my sycamore."
Even in the afterlife, this Egyptian wanted a well-tended yard. The inscription comes from an ancient tomb; the translator is unknown, and the quote appears in Branches of the Tree of Life: The Collected Poems of Abiodun Oyewole 1969-2013 (2Leaf Press, 2014, p. 13).
Circa 630 A.D.: Caliph Abu Bakr's Rules of Engagement
"Bring no harm to the trees, nor burn them with fire."
The first Islamic caliph gave this instruction to his armies, making it one of history's earlier "leave the forest out of it" military policies. Source: Aboul-Enein and Zuhur, Islamic Rulings on Warfare, Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College (2004), p. 22.
1852: Humboldt Does the Math on Deforestation
"By felling the trees which cover the tops and sides of mountains, men in all climates seem to bring upon future generations two calamities at once; want of fuel and a scarcity of water."
Baron Alexander von Humboldt wrote this in his Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America During the Years 1799-1804 (English edition, 1852), translated from French. He was one of the first scientists to link forest loss to water and climate, and he did it before anyone thought to call it "environmental science."
1900: The Forest Service Discovers Bullet Points
"THE EXERCISE OF CARE WITH SMALL FIRES IS THE BEST PREVENTIVE OF LARGE ONES. Therefore all persons are requested--
- Not to drop matches or burning tobacco where there is inflammable material.
- Not to build larger camp fires than are necessary.
- Not to build fires in leaves, rotten wood, or other places where they are likely to spread.
- In windy weather and in dangerous places, to dig holes or clear the ground to confine camp fires.
- To extinguish all fires completely before leaving them, even for a short absence.
- Not to build fires against large or hollow logs, where it is difficult to extinguish them.
- Not to build fires to clear land without informing the nearest officer of the FOREST SERVICE, so that he may assist in controlling them.
This may be one of the first lists of responsible campfire guidelines, and the all-caps opening is a fine example of early-1900s subtlety. It's from a series of notices the U.S. Department of Agriculture posted in forests, and it was reprinted in the first Boy Scouts Handbook (1911, p. 159). [View here:]
1911: Scouts Learn That Photography Beats Hunting
"The scout should never kill an animal or other living creature needlessly. There is more sport in stalking animals to photograph them, and in coming to know their habits than in hunting to kill."
From Handbook for Boys (Boy Scouts of America, 1911, p. 5), under the heading "What Scouting Means." [View it here]
1919: Baden-Powell Keeps It Short
"On breaking up camp leave two things behind you: 1. Nothing. 2. Your Thanks."
This is attributed to Lord Baden-Powell, founder of the worldwide Scouting movement, and it appears in many Scouting publications. It's arguably the most efficient set of camping instructions ever written. [view here, on page 3]
1947: A Magazine Contest Becomes a National Pledge
"I give my pledge as an American to save and faithfully to defend from waste the natural resources of my country - its soil and minerals, its forests, waters, and wildlife."
In 1946, Outdoor Life magazine held a contest for a concise conservation pledge, and L. L. Foreman of New Mexico won. The pledge spread quickly across the U.S. and helped many people grasp why conservation matters. [Read more here and here.]
1954: Eisenhower Assigns Homework to the Boy Scouts
"As an American, I will do my best to: Be clean in my outdoor manners. Be careful with fire. Be considerate in the outdoors. Be conservation minded."
President Eisenhower challenged the Boy Scouts to raise public awareness of caring for natural resources. The Boy Scouts responded with the Outdoor Code, published in Boys' Life magazine and still in use today. The full version adds explanatory text to each line. [View here and here]
1987: The "Don't Be Seen" Era
"1) Make it hard for others to see you and 2) Leave no trace of your visit."
Several federal agencies teamed up on a national campaign teaching "No-Trace" camping. Their publication Leave "No Trace" Land Ethics (produced cooperatively by USDA and USDI) offered these principles along with detailed practices. It's the only entry on this list that reads like a spy manual. [View here]
1990: Leave No Trace Gets Its Seven Principles
The U.S. Forest Service and the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) worked together to create:
- Plan Ahead and Prepare
- Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces
- Dispose of Waste Properly
- Leave What You Find
- Minimize Campfire Impacts
- Respect Wildlife
- Be Considerate of Other Visitors
The Common Thread
Across hundreds of thousands of years, dozens of cultures, several empires, and one very stern Secretary of Agriculture, the message is basically the same: take what you need, don't wreck the rest, and leave things better than you found them.
By David F. Garner