This paper examines the reception of Marsh’s ideas in New Zealand in the 1870s along with the ideas of the largely-forgotten Titus Smith about human impacts upon the vegetation of Nova Scotia in the nineteenth century, prompting reflection upon the relevance of tales of environmental understanding from two colonial realms for the practice of environmental history in the twenty-first century.

This article challenges the premise that Marsh was unique in laying out an ecological justification for conservation. It suggests that these principles were common currency in early American natural history.

This article argues that during the interwar period in Australia, contrary to assertions that social, political and economic pressures stifled environmental debate, there were a wide range of interests pushing for conservation, the development of National Parks and limits on development schemes.

While the evolution of community wildlife conservation in the country from the late 1970s tends to be portrayed as a programme without antecedents, this paper demonstrates that attempts to involve Africans in wildlife conservation in Kenya have a long history.