Biodiversity Conservation
E M Shimitha
Biodiversity conservation is simply the conservation of our biodiversity using various methods. But first, you have to know what is biodiversity? We know that there are lot of organisms around us. This various life forms on earth is known as Biodiversity. It is the total of all living organisms present on our earth. A good biodiversity includes availability of pure water, pure soil, pure air and so on.But today, we all know our biodiversity id getting destroyed. The ultimate reason is nothing but we humans.
So conservation of biodiversity is very much important today. There are so many methods to conserve biodiversity. But before, we have to know the causes of loss of biodiversity. the major causes of biodiversity loss are increase in pollution, industrialisation, population, urbanization and so on. Loss of biodiversity will affect the ecosystem very badly. Even if we are the major cause, it will also affect us adversely. Conservation of biodiversity means protection and preservation of natural habitats.
We know, what are the reasons to protect our biodiversity. There are mainly two methods to protect our biodiversity. That are IN-SITU conservation method and EX-SITU conservation method.
In-situ conservation
It is the conservation of organisms or species in their natural habitat. That means conservation of plant or animal species in their natural habitat. It is the same habitat though, it also includes protection and management of the same area. In situ conservation includes biosphere reserves, wild life sanctuary, national parks, biodiversity hotspots and so on.
Biosphere reserves
Biosphere reserves are the large area in which occurs the conservations of plants and animals. We have 18 biosphere reserves in India. Nanda devi biosphere reserve in Uttarakhand and manas in Assam are some of the examples.
Wildlife sanctuaries
It is a conservation area for animals only. Presently, we have 551 wildlife sanctuaries in India. Ghana bird sanctuary and Nal sarovar bird sanctuary are some of the examples.
National parks
This includes conservation of wildlife with its environment. It also conserves historical monuments. We have a total of 105 national parks in India. Kaziranga national park and Ghir national parks are some of the examples.
Biodiversity hotspots
If one place to be biodiversity hotspots, there are two criteria to be qualified;
- It should have at least 1500 species of vascular plants.
- It has lost at least 70% of its habitat.
The Western Ghats and The Himalaya are some of the examples.
What are merits of In-situ Conservation?
- It is the best convenient way and cost-effective method.
- In situ conservation includes national parks, biodiversity hotspots, biosphere reserves and so on.
- It is a less disruptive method of conservation.
- It includes the conservation of both species and their habitat.
What are demerits of in situ conservation?
As we said, it is the total control of an ecosystem or habitat. It could be very difficult to control all these completely.
Ex-situ conservation
Ex situ conservation is the conservation living organisms outside their natural habitat. It is also known as offsite conservation. This conservation includes different techniques like botanical garden, zoological garden, gene bank, aquarium, cryopreservation, seed bank and so on.
What are the merits of ex-situ conservation?
- It is an expensive method
- It gives protection from predators and poachers.
- Threatened animals and plants can be specially protected.
- Effective management of population
- We can measure the genetic diversity in the given population
- We can breed more endangered plants and animals
What are the demerits of ex-situ conservation?
- There occurs a chance of wide spreading of diseases among animals and plants.
- Reproduction of animals is further difficult
- Very expensive to maintain these animals and plants
- Animals in the ex-situ area cannot survive when they are introduced into the wild
- Animals may exhibit difficulties when they are suddenly introduced to this new habitat.