15. BIODIVERSITY AND
CONSERVATION
BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION
There are 3 categories of
reasons for conservation.
a. Narrowly utilitarian arguments
- Human derive economic benefits from nature such as food,
firewood, fibre, construction material, industrial products (tannins,
lubricants, dyes, resins, perfumes) and medicines.
- More than 25% of the
drugs are derived from plants.
- 25,000 species of plants
have medicinal value.
b. Broadly utilitarian arguments
Biodiversity has many
ecosystem services. E.g.
· Amazon forest (‘lung of the planet’) produces 20% of total O2 in the earth’s
atmosphere.
·
Pollination through bees,
bumblebees, birds and bats.
·
Aesthetic pleasures.
c. Ethical arguments
·
Every species has an intrinsic value. We have a moral duty
to care for their well-being.
Biodiversity conservation is 2 types: In situ (on site) conservation and Ex situ (off site) conservation.
a. In situ conservation (on site)
It is the conservation of
genetic resources within natural or human-made ecosystems in which they occur. E.g. Protected areas such as National Parks, Sanctuaries, Biosphere reserves, cultural landscapes, natural monuments etc.
· National Park: Strictly reserved for the welfare of the wildlife where
private ownership, cultivation, grazing etc. are prohibited. E.g. Eravikulam National Park in Kerala.
· Sanctuary:
Here, protection is given only to the animals. Collection of timbers, minor
forest products and private ownership are allowed so long as they do not harm
the animals. E.g. Periyar wildlife
sanctuary in Kerala.
· Biosphere Reserves:
Areas of land or coastal ecosystems for conservation and sustainable use.
· Sacred forests (Sacred
groves): Forest fragments
which are communally protected based on religious beliefs. E.g.
o Sacred
groves in Khasi & Jaintia Hills in Meghalaya.
o Aravalli Hills
of Rajasthan.
o Western
Ghat regions of Karnataka & Maharashtra.
o
Sarguja, Chanda & Bastar
areas (Madhya Pradesh).
India has 14 Biosphere Reserves, 90 National Parks and 448 wildlife sanctuaries.
b. Ex situ conservation (off site)
It is the conservation of
organisms outside their habitats. E.g. genetic
resource centres, zoological parks, wildlife safari parks, botanical gardens,
gene banks, cryopreservation etc.
Hotspots
· These are the
regions with very high species richness, high degree of endemism
(species confined only to a specific region) but most threatened.
· There are 34 hotspots in the world.
· 3 hotspots cover India’s biodiversity regions- Western Ghats & Sri Lanka, Indo-Burma and
Himalaya.
· All hotspots together
cover only < 2% of the earth’s land area. But the species richness is
extremely high. Protection of hotspots reduced the ongoing extinctions by 30%.
International
Efforts for conserving biodiversity
· The Earth Summit
or Convention on Biological Diversity (Rio de Jeneiro,
1992) - 3 objectives:
a. Conservation
of biodiversity.
b. Sustainable
use of biodiversity.
c. Sharing
of benefits arising from genetic resources.
· The World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, South Africa, 2002): 190 countries pledged to reduce the current rate of biodiversity loss.
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