What are the Different Types of Environmental Services?

Environmental services typically deal with protecting or enhancing nature in some way. Although respect and appreciation for nature are generally a common interest among them, environmental services tend to have many branches. For example, conservation, geological, and forestry agencies may all work in one municipality. Sometimes their duties, responsibilities, and powers may overlap.

Conservation services are generally established to help ensure that a portion of the environment remains as close to its natural state as possible. These environmental services typically aim to protect land and the animals that live on it. They may be responsible for planning and establishing parks and game reserves. They are also likely to provide veterinary and other services to protected species to help them thrive and reproduce.

Park services generally help run and control parks or animal reserves once they are established. Staff members are often employed to keep the parks and reserves orderly and clean. Park rangers typically have police powers which allow them to effectively enforce laws and regulations that affect visitors.

Forestry agencies are environmental services that are usually concerned with wooded areas and sometimes grasslands. These agencies tend to manage and enforce laws that pertain to activities such as logging and hunting. They may work closely with park services and they may employ park rangers, but their duties are not typically restricted to regulated areas.

Coastal and marine agencies are often established to provide environmental services that relate to the water. These agencies often study how human behaviors affect the waters around them. They may attempt to develop solutions for problems or develop strategies that prevent harm from occurring. These agencies may develop laws and regulations that concern fishing, boating, and construction close to shorelines.

In the United States, the Coast Guard assumes some of these responsibilities. Many people are only familiar with the policing duties of the Coast Guard, which gives it the authority to act when crimes are committed on water. This agency, however, provides many environmental services. These include protection and assistance to endangered species, enforcing fishing and poaching laws, and dealing with marine pollution.

Geological services are generally established to provide an understanding of the planet. These agencies usually employ various scientific methods to conduct studies and provide feedback that is often essential to governments and individuals. Since there are many branches of Earth science, the establishment of geological societies allows information from various fields to be brought together. Their duties may include assessing groundwater supplies, climate change, or volcanic activity.