Biodiversity, the sum total of genes, species and ecosystems of life on earth, is the most complex feature of Earth. Identifying it requires recognizing humankind’s role in shaping interactions between all species co-existing within the biosphere.
Biodiversity is also essential for ensuring ecosystem services like clean water, pollination and disease prevention. The significance of biodiversity lies in the fact that all forms of life are so closely interlinked that any disturbance in one vital element causes imbalance or death to others.
There is an urgent need to educate people to adopt environment-friendly practices and reorient their activities in such a way that our development is harmonious with other life forms and is sustainable.
The critical problem is not merely the conservation of species nor the habitat but the continuation of process of conservation.
The Government of India along with 155 other nations have signed the Convention of Biodiversity at the Earth Summit held at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 1992. The world conservation strategy has suggested the following steps for biodiversity conservation:
- Efforts should be made to preserve the species that are endangered.
- Prevention of extinction requires proper planning and management.
- Varieties of food crops, forage plants, timber trees, livestock, animals and their wild relatives should be preserved;
- Each country should identify habitats of wild relatives and ensure their protection.
- Habitats where species feed, breed, rest and nurse their young should be safeguarded and protected.
- International trade in wild plants and animals be regulated.
To protect, preserve and propagate the variety of species within natural boundaries, the Government of India passed the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, under which national parks and sanctuaries were established and biosphere reserves declared.
There are some countries which are situated in the tropical region; they possess a large number of the world’s species diversity. They are called mega diversity centres. There are 12 such countries, namely Mexico, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, China, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia in which these centres are located.
Hotspots are defined according to their vegetation. Plants are important because these determine the primary productivity of an ecosystem. Most, but not all, of the hotspots rely on species-rich ecosystems for food 85 per cent of the plants and animals are found nowhere else in the world, Other hotspots firewood, cropland, and income from timber.
