Module 2 Unit 7
THREATS TO BIODIVERSITY: HABITAT
LOSS, POACHING OF WILDLIFE,
MAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICTS
• Man has begun to overuse or misuse most of these natural ecosystems. Due to
this ‘unsustainable’ resource-use, once productive forests and grasslands have
been turned into deserts and wasteland have increased all over the world.
• Mangroves have been cleared for fuelwood and prawn farming, which has led to
a decrease in the habitat essential for breeding of marine fish. Wetlands have
been drained to increase agricultural land. These changes have grave economic
implications in the longer term.
• The current destruction of the remaining large areas of wilderness habitats,
especially in the super diverse tropical forests and coral reefs, is the most
important threat worldwide to biodiversity. Scientists have estimated that human
activities are likely to eliminate approximately 10 million species by the year 2050
• In India, forests and grasslands are continuously being changed to
agricultural land.
• Encroachments have been legalized repeatedly.
• Similarly natural wetland systems have been drained to establish
croplands resulting in loss of aquatic species.
• Grasslands that were once sustainably used by a relatively smaller
number of human beings and their cattle are either changed to other
forms of use or degraded by overgrazing.
• Our natural forests are being deforested for timber and replanted
using teak, sal or other single species for their timber value. Such
plantations do not support the same biological diversity as a multi-
storied natural forest, which has a closed canopy and a rich
understorey of vegetation.
• When excessive firewood is collected from the forest by lopping the
branches of trees, the forest canopy is opened up and this alters local
biodiversity.
• Foraging cattle retard the regeneration of the forest as seedlings are
constantly trampled
• Overharvesting of fish, especially by trawling is leading to serious
depletion of fish stocks. Turtles are being massacred off the coast of
Orissa. The rare whale shark, a highly endangered species, is being
killed off the coast of Gujarat.
• To protect endangered species India has created the Wildlife
Protection Act. This includes lists of plants and animals categorised
according to the threat on their survival.
Poaching
• Specific threats to certain animals are related to large economic
benefits. Skin and bones from tigers, ivory from elephants, horns rhinos
and the perfume from the must deer are extensively used abroad.
• Bears are killed for their gall bladders. Corals and shells are also
collected for export or sold on the beaches of Chennai and
Kanyakumari.
• A variety of wild plants with real or at times dubious medicinal value are
being over harvested. The commonly collected plants include Rauvolfia,
Nuxvomica, Datura, etc. Collection of garden plants includes orchids,
ferns and moss.
ENDANGERED AND ENDEMIC
SPECIES OF INDIA
• Of the well-known species, there are several which are endangered by human
activity.
• The endangered species in the country are categorised as Vulnerable, Rare,
Indeterminate and Threatened. Other species are found only in India and are thus
endemic or restricted to our country. Some of these may have very localized
distribution and are considered highly endemic.
• Several plant and animal species in the country are now found in only one or a few
Protected Areas. Among the important endangered animals are charismatic
species such as the tiger, the elephant, the rhino, etc. The less well-known major
mammals restricted to a single area include the Indian wild ass, the Hangul or
Kashmir stag, the Golden langur, the pygmy hog and a host of others. There are
also endangered bird species such as the Siberian crane, the Great Indian Bustard,
the Florican and several birds of prey
CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY:
INSITU AND EX-SITU
In-situ conservation
• Biodiversity at all its levels, genetic species and as intact ecosystems can be best
preserved insitu by setting aside an adequate representation of wilderness as
‘Protected Areas’.
• These should consist of a network of National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries
with each distinctive ecosystem included in the network. Such a network would
pr
• Wildlife Sanctuaries and National Parks of India: There are 589 Protected Areas
in India of which 89 are National Parks and 500 are Wildlife Sanctuaries. They
include a variety of ecosystems and habitats. Some have been created in order
to protect highly endangered species of wild plants and animals found nowhere
else in the world. eserve the total diversity of life of a region.
Ex-situ conservation
• There are situations in which an endangered species is so close to
extinction that unless alternate methods are instituted, the species
may be rapidly driven to extinction. This strategy is known as ex-situ
conservation, i.e. outside its natural habitat in a carefully controlled
situation such as a botanical garden for plants or a zoological park for
animals, where there is expertise to multiply the species under
artificially managed conditions.
• These breeding programs for rare plants and animals are however
more expensive than managing a Protected Areas
• In India, successful ex situ conservation programs have been done for
all our three species of crocodiles. This has been highly successful.
Another recent success has been the breeding of the very rare pygmy
hog in Gauhati zoo. Delhi zoo has successfully bred the rare Manipur
brow antlered deer. However the most important step of a successful
breeding program is the reintroduction of a species into its original
wild habitat.
• This requires rehabilitation of the degraded habitat and removal of
the other causes such as poaching, disturbance, or other manmade
influences that have been the primary cause of reducing the
population of the species.