Biodiversity Conservation

Biodiversity conservation means protecting the variety of life at the genetic, species and ecosystem levels. This page explains the three reasons for conserving biodiversity, in situ conservation through biodiversity hotspots, protected areas and sacred groves, ex situ conservation in zoos, botanical gardens and seed banks, and the international summits of 1992 and 2002. NEET often asks India's three hotspots, the sacred grove locations and the difference between in situ and ex situ biodiversity conservation.

1. Why Should We Conserve Biodiversity?

• There are many reasons to conserve biodiversity. Some are obvious and others are not, but all are equally important.
• ★ Exam imp They fall into three categories: narrowly utilitarian, broadly utilitarian and ethical.

1.1 Narrowly utilitarian arguments

• These arguments are obvious: humans derive countless direct economic benefits from nature.
• Nature gives us food (cereals, pulses, fruits), firewood, fibre and construction material.
• It gives industrial products: tannins, lubricants, dyes, resins and perfumes.
• It gives products of medicinal importance.
• ★ Exam imp More than 25 per cent of the drugs currently sold in the market worldwide are derived from plants.
• 25,000 species of plants contribute to the traditional medicines used by native peoples around the world.
• Nobody knows how many more medicinally useful plants are still waiting to be explored in tropical rain forests.

1.2 Broadly utilitarian arguments

• Biodiversity plays a major role in many ecosystem services that nature provides.
• ★ Exam imp The fast-dwindling Amazon forest is estimated to produce, through photosynthesis, 20 per cent of the total oxygen in the earth's atmosphere.
• To sense the economic value of this service, consider what a hospital spends on one cylinder of oxygen.
• Pollination is another service. Without it, plants cannot give us fruits or seeds.
• Ecosystems provide pollination through pollinators: bees, bumblebees, birds and bats. Doing this work without natural pollinators would be very costly.
• There are also intangible benefits: the aesthetic pleasure of walking through thick woods, watching spring flowers in full bloom, or waking up to a bulbul's song.
• Such benefits cannot easily be given a price tag.
• Other ecosystem services include pest control, climate moderation and flood control.

1.3 The ethical argument

• It concerns what we owe to the millions of plant, animal and microbe species that share this planet with us.
• ★ Exam imp Philosophically or spiritually, every species has an intrinsic value, even if it has no current or any economic value to us.
• We have a moral duty to care for their well-being.
• We must pass on our biological legacy in good order to future generations.

2. How Do We Conserve Biodiversity?

• When we conserve and protect a whole ecosystem, its biodiversity at all levels is protected: we save the entire forest to save the tiger.
• ★ Exam imp This approach is called in situ (on site) conservation.
• Some animals or plants are endangered or threatened, that is, they face a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future.
• When such a species needs urgent measures to save it from extinction, ex situ (off site) conservation is the desirable approach.

3. In Situ Conservation

3.1 Biodiversity hotspots

• Many nations face a conflict between development and conservation. They find it unrealistic and economically not feasible to conserve all their biological wealth.
• The number of species waiting to be saved from extinction always far exceeds the conservation resources available.
• Eminent conservationists addressed this problem globally. They identified certain biodiversity hotspots for maximum protection.

• ★ Exam imp Initially 25 biodiversity hotspots were identified. Later nine more were added, bringing the world total to 34.
• These hotspots are also regions of accelerated habitat loss.
• ★ Exam imp Three hotspots cover India's exceptionally high biodiversity regions: Western Ghats and Sri Lanka, Indo-Burma and Himalaya (Figure 1).
• All the hotspots together cover less than 2 per cent of the earth's land area. Yet the number of species they harbour is extremely high.
• Strict protection of these hotspots could reduce the ongoing mass extinctions by almost 30 per cent.

3.2 Protected areas in India

• In India, ecologically unique and biodiversity-rich regions are legally protected as biosphere reserves, national parks and sanctuaries.

3.3 Sacred groves

• India has a history of religious and cultural traditions that emphasised the protection of nature.
• ★ Exam imp In many cultures, tracts of forest were set aside, and all the trees and wildlife within them were venerated and given total protection. Such tracts are sacred groves.

• In Meghalaya, the sacred groves are the last refuges for a large number of rare and threatened plants.

4. Ex Situ Conservation

• Threatened animals and plants are taken out of their natural habitat and placed in special settings where they are protected and given special care.
• ★ Exam imp Zoological parks, botanical gardens and wildlife safari parks serve this purpose.
• Many animals that have become extinct in the wild continue to be maintained in zoological parks.
• In recent years, ex situ conservation has advanced beyond keeping threatened species in enclosures.

5. Global Efforts for Conservation

• Biodiversity knows no political boundaries. Its conservation is therefore a collective responsibility of all nations.

1. 1992, Rio de Janeiro: the historic Convention on Biological Diversity ('The Earth Summit') called on all nations to take appropriate measures to conserve biodiversity and to use its benefits sustainably.
2. 2002, Johannesburg, South Africa: at the World Summit on Sustainable Development, a follow-up meeting, 190 countries pledged their commitment.
3. Target year 2010: the pledge was to achieve a significant reduction in the current rate of biodiversity loss at global, regional and local levels.

Numbers to Remember

• Drugs from plants: more than 25 per cent; plants in traditional medicine: 25,000 species
• Amazon forest: about 20 per cent of atmospheric oxygen
• Hotspots: 25 at first + 9 added = 34; 3 cover India
• Hotspots: less than 2 per cent of land; could cut ongoing mass extinctions by almost 30 per cent
• India: 14 biosphere reserves, 90 national parks, 448 wildlife sanctuaries
• 1992 Rio (Earth Summit); 2002 Johannesburg (190 countries); target 2010

6. Pairs to Match

7. Quick Revision

• Reasons to conserve: narrowly utilitarian, broadly utilitarian and ethical.
• Narrowly utilitarian: food, firewood, fibre, construction material, industrial products and medicines.
• Over 25 per cent of drugs come from plants; 25,000 plant species are used in traditional medicine.
• Bioprospecting: exploring molecular, genetic and species-level diversity for economic products.
• Broadly utilitarian: ecosystem services such as 20 per cent of oxygen from the Amazon, pollination, aesthetic value.
• Ethical: every species has intrinsic value; we must pass our biological legacy to future generations.
• In situ: protect the whole ecosystem; ex situ: move endangered or threatened species to protected settings.
• Hotspots: high species richness and endemism; 25 + 9 = 34; regions of accelerated habitat loss.
• India's hotspots: Western Ghats and Sri Lanka, Indo-Burma, Himalaya.
• Hotspots cover under 2 per cent of land; protecting them could cut mass extinctions by almost 30 per cent.
• India: 14 biosphere reserves, 90 national parks, 448 wildlife sanctuaries.
• Sacred groves: Khasi and Jaintia Hills, Aravalli Hills, Western Ghats of Karnataka and Maharashtra, Sarguja, Chanda and Bastar.
• Ex situ: zoos, botanical gardens, safari parks, cryopreservation, in vitro fertilisation, tissue culture, seed banks.
• Earth Summit: Rio de Janeiro 1992; World Summit on Sustainable Development: Johannesburg 2002, 190 countries, 2010 target.

8. Solved Examples

Common Mistakes to Avoid