Conservation of Biodiversity

Conservation of Biodiversity:

Conservation of biodiversity is protection, upliftment and scientific management of biodiversity so as to maintain it at its threshold level and derive sustainable benefits for the present and future generation. In other words, conservation of bio-diversity is the proper management of the biosphere by human beings in such a way that it gives maximum benefits for the present generation and also develops its potential so as to meet the needs of the future generations.

Mainly the conservation of biodiversity has three basic objectives:

(a) To maintain essential ecological processes and life supporting systems.

(b) To preserve the diversity of species.

(c) To make sustainable utilisation of species and ecosystems.

Strategies for Conservation of Biodiversity:

The following strategies should be undertaken in order to conserve biodiversity:

(1) All the possible varieties (old or new) of food, forage and timber plants, livestock, agriculture animals and microbes should be conserved.

(2) All the economically important organisms in protected areas should be identified and conserved.

(3) Critical habitats for each species should be identified and safeguarded.

(4) Priority should be given to preserve unique ecosystems.

(5) There should be sustainable utilisation of resources.

(6) International trade in wild life should be highly regulated.

(7) The poaching and hunting of wildlife should be prevented as far as practicable.

(8) Care should be taken for the development of reserves and protected areas.

(9) Efforts should be made to reduce the level of pollutants in the environment.

(10) Public awareness should be created regarding biodiversity and its importance for the living organisms.

(11) Priority should be given in wildlife conservation programme to endangered species over vulnerable species and to vulnerable species over rare species.

(12) The habitats of migratory birds should be protected by bilateral and multilateral agreement.

(13) The over exploitation of useful products of wild life should be prevented.

(14) The useful animals, plants and their wild relatives should be protected both in their natural habitat (in-situ) and in zoological botanical gardens (ex-situ)

(15) Efforts should be made for setting up of National parks and wild life sanctuaries to safeguard the genetic diversity and their continuing evolution.

(16) Environmental laws should be strictly followed.

Conservation Methods:

There are two types of conservation methods namely in-situ and ex-situ conservations. Let us discuss the different conservation methods along with their importance.

(a) In situ conservation:

The conservation of species in their natural habitat or natural ecosystem is known as in situ conservation. In the process, the natural surrounding or ecosystem is protected and maintained so that all the constituent species (known or unknown) are conserved and benefited. The factors which are detrimental to the existence of species concerned are eliminated by suitable mechanism.

The different advantages of in situ conservation are as follows:

(a) If is a cheap and convenient way of conserving biological diversity.

(b) It offers a way to preserve a large number of organisms simultaneously, known or unknown to us.

(c) The existence in natural ecosystem provides opportunity to the living organisms to adjust to differed’ environmental conditions and to evolve in to a better life form.

The only disadvantage of in situ conservation is that it requires large space of earth which is often difficult because of growing demand for space. The protection and management of biodiversity through in situ conservation involve certain specific areas known as protected areas which include national parks, Sanctuaries and Biosphere reserves.

1. Protected areas:

The protected areas are biogeographical areas where biological diversity along with natural and cultural resources are protected, maintained and managed through legal and administrative measures. The demarcation of biodiversity in each area is determined on the basis of climatic and physiological conditions.

In these areas, hunting, firewood collection, timber harvesting etc. are prohibited so that the wild plants and animals can grow and multiply freely without any hindrance. Some protected areas are: Cold desert (Ladakh and Spiti), Hot desert (Thar), Saline Swampy area (Sunderban and Rann of Kutch), Tropical moist deciduous forest (Western Ghats and north East) etc. Protected areas include national parks, sanctuaries and biosphere reserves. There are 37,000 protected areas throughout the world. As per World Conservation Monitoring Centre, India has 581 protected areas, national parks and sanctuaries.

2. National parks:

These are the small reserves meant for the protection of wild life and their natural habitats. These are maintained by government. The area of national parks ranges between 0.04 to 3162 km. The boundaries are well demarcated and circumscribed. The activities like grazing forestry, cultivation and habitat manipulation are not permitted in these areas. There are about 89 national parks in India.

Some important national Parks of India are:

(i) Biological Park, Nandankanan, Orissa,

(ii) Corbett national Park Nainital, U.P. (First national Park)

(iii) Koziranga national Park, Jorhat, Assam

(iv) Tudula national Park, Maharashtra

(v) Hazaribagh national Park, Hazaribagh, Bihar

(vi) Band havgarh national park, M.P.

(vii) Bandipur national park, Karnataka.

(viii) Kanha National Park, M.P.

(ix) Reibul Lamjao National Park, Manipur

(x) Nawgaon National Park, Maharashtra

3. Sanctuaries:

These are the areas where only wild animals (fauna) are present. The activities like harvesting of timbers, collection of forest products, cultivation of lands etc. are permitted as long as these do not interfere with the project. That is, controlled biotic interference is permitted in sanctuaries, which allows visiting of tourists for recreation. The area under a sanctuary remains in between 0.61 to 7818 km.

Some important sanctuaries of Orissa are as follows:

(i) Nandankanan Zoological Park

(ii) Chandaka Elephant reserve

(iii) Simlipal Tiger Reserve

(iv) Bhitarkanika Wild life Sanctuary

(v) Gharial project at Tikarpada

(vi) Chilika (Nalaban) Sanctuary

4. Biosphere reserves:

Biosphere reserves or natural reserves are multipurpose protected areas with boundaries circumscribed by legislation. The main aim of biosphere reserve is to preserve genetic diversity in representative ecosystems by protecting wild animals, traditional life style of inhabitant and domesticated plant/ animal genetic resources. These are scientifically managed allowing only the tourists to visit.

Some importance of biosphere reserves are as follows:

(a) These help in the restoration of degraded ecosystem.

(b) The main role of these reserves is to preserve genetic resources, species, ecosystems, and habitats without disturbing the habitants.

(c) These maintain cultural, social and ecologically sustainable economic developments.

(d) These support education and research in various ecological aspects,

Some important biosphere reserves are:

Simlipal, (Orissa), Sunderban (West Bengal), Kanha (M.P Kaziranga (Assam) etc. The biosphere reserve network was introduced by UNESCO 1971.

(b) Ex-situ conservation:

Ex-situ conservation involves maintenance and breeding of endangered plants and animals under partially or wholly controlled conditions in specific areas like zoo, gardens, nurseries etc. That is, the conservation of selected plants and animals in selected areas outside their natural habitat is known as ex-situ conservation.

The stresses on living organisms due to competition for food, water, space etc. can be avoided by ex-situ conservation there by providing conditions necessary for a secure life and breeding.

Some important areas under these conservation are:

(i) Seed gene bank,

(ii) Field gene bank;

(iii) Botanical gardens;

(iv) Zoos.

The strategies for ex-situ conservations are:

(i) Identification of species to be conserved.

(ii) Adoption of Different ex-situ methods of conservation.

(i) Long-term captive breeding and propagation for the species which have lost their habitats permanently.

(ii) Short-term propagation and release of the animals in their natural habitat

(iii) Animal translocation

(iv) Animal reintroduction

(v) Advanced technology in the service of endangered species.

The different advantages of ex-situ conservation are:

(a) It gives longer life time and breeding activity to animals.

(b) Genetic techniques can be utilised in the process.

(c) Captivity breed species can again be reintroduced in the wild.

Some disadvantages of this method are:

(a) The favourable conditions may not be maintained always.

(b) Mew life forms cannot evolve.

(c) This technique involves only few species.

Hot Spots:

Hot spots are the areas with high density of biodiversity or mega diversity which are most threatened at present. There are 16 hot spots in world, out of which two are located in India namely North-East Himalayas and Western Ghats.

The hot spots are determined considering four factors:

(i) Degrees of endemism;

(ii) Degree of expectation

(iii) Degrees of threat to habitat due to its degradation and fragmentation and

(iv) Number of Species diversity.

The global hot spot and endemic species present within them are:

(i) North East Himalayas (3,500);

(ii) Western Ghats (1,600);

(iii) Cape region of South Africa (6,000);

(iv) Upland Western Amazonia (5,000);

(v) Madagascar (4,900);

(vi) Philippines (3,700)

(vii) Boreo (3, 500);

(viii) South West Australia (2,830);

(ix) Western Ecuador (2,500);

(x) Colombian Choco (2,500);

(xi) Peninsular Malaysia) (2, 400);

(xii) Californian Floristic Province (2,140);

(xiii) Central Chile (1,450);

(xiv) Eastern Arc. Mts (Tanzania) (535);

(xv) South West Srilanka (500);

(xvi) South west Tvorie (200).