IN-SITU

CONSERVATION
Biodiversity
Hotspots
Biodiversity hotspots are regions with very
high levels of species richness and high
degree of endemism (that is, species confined
to that region and not found anywhere else).
They are the richest and the most threatened
reservoirs of plant and animal life on Earth.
There are 34 hotspots in the world occupying
Earths land area of less than 2%. The number
of species they harbor is quite high and strict
protection of these hotspots could reduce the
ongoing mass extinctions by almost 30%.
The 3 important hotspots in India are :1)
2)
3)

Western Ghats and Sri Lanka

Indo-Burma
Himalaya

1)Western Ghats and Sri

Lanka
They occur along the western coast of
India through Maharashtra, Karnataka,
Tamil Nadu and Kerala extending over to
Sri Lanka. Southern Western Ghats are
known as Malabar. The Agasthyamalai
hills, the Silent Valley and the new
Amambalam Reserve, are the major
centres of biodiversity

2) Indo-Burma
It extends from Bhutan to Myanmar covering most
of the North-Eastern India. Much of Indo-Burma is
characterized by distinct seasonal weather patterns.
During the northern winter months, dry, cool winds
blow from the stable continental Asian high-pressure
system, resulting in a dry period under clear skies
across much of the south, center, and west of the
hotspot (the dry, northeast monsoon). As the
continental system weakens in spring, the wind
direction reverses and air masses forming the
southwest monsoon pick up moisture from the seas
to the southwest and bring abundant rains as they
rise over the hills and mountains.

A wide diversity of ecosystems is represented in this

hotspot, including mixed wet evergreen, dry
evergreen, deciduous, and montane forests. There
are also patches of shrublands and woodlands on
karst limestone outcrops and, in some coastal areas,
scattered heath forests. In addition, a wide variety of
distinctive, localized vegetation formations occur in
Indo-Burma, including lowland floodplain swamps,
mangroves, and seasonally inundated grasslands

3)Himalaya*
It is one of the richest hot spot of
biodiversity. Eastern Himalaya is
situated between the Kali Gandaki River
in Central Nepal in the west and Myanmar
in the east, occupying southeast Tibet in
China, Sikkim, North Bengal, Bhutan and
North-East India.[1] The area has been
declared a biodiversity hotspot by
Conservation International. The climate of
Eastern Himalaya is characterized by cool
summer and chilly winter. The hot season

commences about the middle of April,

reaches its maximum in the month of
June and lasts till the end of August. The
average temperature generally recorded
is 20 C. The average rainfall in the area is
about 500mm. Snowfall is a usual
phenomenon in the higher altitudes.

Protected Areas
These are areas of land and/or sea, especially
dedicated to the protection and maintenance
of biological diversity, and of natural and
associated cultural resources. These are
managed through legal or other effective
means.
Protected area network include :1)
2)
3)

National Parks
Sanctuaries
Biosphere reserves

4)

Sacred Grooves

1)National Parks
A national park is a park in use for
conservation purposes. Often it is a
reserve of natural, semi-natural, or
developed land that a sovereign state
declares or owns. Although individual
nations designate their own national
parks differently, there is a common
idea: the conservation of 'wild nature'

for posterity and as a symbol of national

pride.
The 3 famous National Parks are :
1)Yellowstone in USA
2) The Royal in Sydney,Australia
3) Corbett National park in Nainital,
India

2)Sanctuaries
An animal sanctuary is a facility where
animals are brought to live and be
protected for the rest of their lives. Unlike
animal shelters, sanctuaries do not seek
to place animals with individuals or
groups, instead maintaining each animal
until his or her natural death. In some
cases, an establishment may have
characteristics of both a sanctuary and a
shelter; for instance, some animals may

be in residence temporarily until a good

home is found and others may be
permanent residents. The mission of
sanctuaries is generally to be safe
havens, where the animals receive the
best care that the sanctuaries can
provide. Animals are not bought, sold, or
traded, nor are they used for animal
testing. The resident animals are given
the opportunity to behave as natural as
possible in a protective environment.

3)Biosphere reserves
Biosphere reserves are areas comprising terrestrial,
marine and coastal ecosystems. Each reserve
promotes solutions reconciling the conservation of
biodiversity with its sustainable use.
Biosphere reserves are Science for Sustainability
support sites special places for testing
interdisciplinary approaches to understanding and
managing changes and interactions between social

and ecological systems, including conflict

prevention and management of biodiversity.
Biosphere reserves are nominated by national
governments and remain under the sovereign
jurisdiction of the states where they are located.
Their status is internationally recognized.
The 3 important Indian biosphere reserves are :
1)Nanda Devi
2)Manas
3)Sunderbans

4)Sacred Grooves
Sacred groves of India are forest fragments of
varying sizes, which are communally protected, and
which usually have a significant religious
connotation for the protecting community. Hunting
and logging are usually strictly prohibited within
these patches.[1] Other forms of forest usage like

honey collection and deadwood collection are

sometimes allowed on a sustainable basis. Sacred
groves did not enjoy protection via federal
legislation in India. Some NGOs work with local
villagers to protect such groves. Traditionally, and in
some cases even today, members of the community
take turns to protect the grove.[2] However, the
introduction of the protected area category
community reserves under the Wild Life (Protection)
Amendment Act, 2002 has introduced legislation for
providing government protection to community held
lands, which could include sacred groves.

EX-SITU
CONSERVATION
EX-SITU CONSERVATION INCLUDES :1)
2)

Sacred Plants, Home Gardens

Seed Banks, Field gene banks

3)
Biological gardens, Zoos, Safari parks,
Aquaria

1)Sacred Plants, Home

Gardens
In the world of plants, some are used for sacred and ceremonial purposes, to explore the
spirit world. The use of these plants derives from native cultures, whose members have
traditionally sought access to the normal through the ingestion of the plants and their

preparations. The use of these plants differs from contemporary religious practices in a
key way. For while religious prayer, ritual and communion are engaged to propitiate god
or gods, the use of sacred plants is intended to give the participant direct access to the
divine experience.

Examples: Tulsi, Rudraksha, Ficus Religios

Home gardens is a mixed cropping system that encompasses vegetables, fruits,

plantation crops, spices, herbs, ornamental and medicinal plants as well as livestock that
can serve as a supplementary source of food and income.

2)Seed Banks, Field

gene banks
A seed bank stores seeds to preserve genetic diversity; hence it is a type of gene bank.
There are many reasons to store seeds. One reason is to have on-hand the genes that plant
breeders need to increase yield, disease resistance, drought tolerance, nutritional quality,
etc. of plants used in agriculture (i.e., crops or domesticated species). Another reason is to
forestall loss of genetic diversity in rare or imperiled plant species in an effort to
conserve biodiversity ex situ.

Gene banks are a type of biorepository which preserve genetic material. For plants, this
could be by freezing cuttings from the plant, or stocking the seeds (e.g. in a seedbank). For

animals, this is the freezing of sperm and eggs in zoological freezers until further need. With
corals, fragments are taken which are stored in water tanks under controlled conditions.

3)Biological gardens,
Zoos, Safari parks
A botanical garden or botanic garden is a garden dedicated to the collection, cultivation
and display of a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names. It may contain
specialist plant collections such as cacti and other succulent plants, herb gardens, plants

from particular parts of the world, and so on; there may be greenhouses, shadehouses,
again with special collections such as tropical plants, alpine plants, or other exotic plants.
A zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public,
and in which they may also be bred. Zoological Parks are related to wild life which denotes
the large & popular animals (tiger, elephant, deer, crocodiles and whales). Wild life is related
to animals and their natural habitats. It helps us to maintain ecological balance.

A safari park, is a zoo-like commercial drive-in tourist attraction where visitors can drive in
their own vehicles or ride in vehicles provided by the facility to observe freely roaming
animals. The main attractions are frequently large animals from Sub-Saharan Africa such
as giraffes, lions, rhinoceros, elephants, zebras, ostriches, and antelope.

CONVENTIONS ON
BIODIVERSITY
Biodiversity knows no political boundaries and
its conservation is therefore, a collective
responsibility of all nations.
As a result 2 historic summits were called
upon :1)
2)

The Earth Summit

World Summit

1)The Earth Summit

Conference

United Nations Conference on

Environment and Development
(UNCED), Rio de Janeiro, 3-14
June 1992

Informal
name

The Earth Summit

Host
Brazil
Government
Number of 172, 108 at level of heads of
Government State or Government
s
participatin
g
Conference
SecretaryGeneral

Maurice F. Strong, Canada

Organizers

UNCED secretariat

Principal
themes

Environment and sustainable

development

NGO
presence

Some 2,400 representatives of

non-governmental
organizations (NGOs); 17,000
people attended the parallel
NGO Forum

Resulting
document

Agenda 21, the Rio Declaration

on Environment and
Development, the Statement
of Forest Principles, the United
Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change and the
United Nations Convention on
Biological Diversity

2)World Summit
The 2005 World Summit, held from 14 to 16 September at United Nations Headquarters in New York,
brought together more than 170 Heads of State and Government. It was a once-in-a-generation
opportunity to take bold decisions in the areas of development, security, human rights and reform of the
United Nations.

The agenda was based on an achievable set of proposals outlined in March 2005 by Secretary-General
Kofi Annan in his report In Larger Freedom.
An historic outcome document took a unified stance by the international community on a broad array of
crucial issues, including concrete steps towards combating poverty and promoting development to
unqualified condemnation of all forms of terrorism along with the acceptance of collective responsibility to
protect civilians against genocide and other crimes against humanity.

KNOWLEDGE CLOUD
Some important protected animals and their
national parks :
Animals
LION(Panthera leo)
Park, Gujarat

Gir National

TIGER(Panthera tigris)
Corbett National
Park,Uttarakhand
Hazaribag
Sanctuary, Jharkhand
SNOW LEOPARD(Panthera uncia)
Gangtok National
Park, Sikkim

RHINO(Rhinoceros unicornis)
Kaziranga National
Park, Assam
ELEPHANTS(Elephas maximus)
Periyar Sanctuary,
Kerala