'conservation-oriented' is a modern compound formed by combining the noun 'conservation' and the adjectival suffix '-oriented' (meaning 'directed toward').

'conservation' originates from Latin, specifically the word 'conservatio' (from 'conservare'), where 'con-' meant 'together/with' and 'servare' meant 'to keep, preserve'. The element '-oriented' comes via French/Modern English from Latin 'oriens'/'orientare' meaning 'to turn toward' or 'to align with', and was grammaticalized in English as the suffix '-oriented' to mean 'directed toward X'.

Initially, 'conservation' meant 'the act of preserving or keeping safe' and 'orient' originally meant 'to turn toward (the east)'; over time the combined form came to mean 'directed toward preservation or protection' in a general, figurative sense.