Two types of conservation methods are prevalent. They are:
1. In-situ conservation method in which organisms are protected in
their natural habitats
2. Ex-situ conservation method in which
organisms are protected outside their natural habitats.
1. In-situ conservation
- Wild Life Sanctuary:
These are forest areas declared as
protected areas to prevent the
extinction of wild lives by protecting
the ecosystem.
- National Parks are designed to protect
wild lives along with the protection
of historical monuments, natural
resources and geographical features
of an area.
- Community reserves are areas protected with the participation of the public.
These are ecologically important places located in populated areas.
- Biosphere reserves :These are vast regions designed with an aim to protect world’s
important ecosystems, biodiversity and genetic resources.
- Sacred groves: These are small areas of biodiversity protected
in regions inhabited by human beings. Due to
changes in life style many of these which were
highly bio-rich have been destroyed. Only a few
are remaining now. Sacred groves play an
important role in the conservation of water in the
region too.
- Ecological hotspots are areas
rich in endemic species but
facing the threat of habitat
destruction. Each hotspot is
ecologically a very important
area of biodiversity. Out of the
34 hotspots all over the world, 3
of them are in India. They are the
Western Ghats, North-Eastern
Himalayas and the Indo-Burma
region.
2. Ex-situ conservation
- Zoological gardens are conservation centres where
different varieties of animals are protected and housed
separately and where necessary arrangements are made
available for their reproduction. They also function as
conservation centres of organisms which have become
extinct in wild.
- Botanical gardens
These are wide research centres where rare and important
plants of diverse species are protected.
- Gene Banks
These are research centres with facilities to collect seeds
and gametes to preserve them for a long time. Organisms
can be recreated out of them whenever required.
Example: Rajiv
Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB)
Summary
Biodiversity conservation may be in situ as well as ex
situ. In in situ conservation, the endangered species are protected in their
natural habitat so that the entire ecosystem is protected. Recently, 34 ‘biodiversity
hotspots’ in the world have been proposed for intensive conservation
efforts. Of these, three (Western Ghats-Sri Lanka, Himalaya
and Indo-Burma) cover India’s rich biodiversity regions. Our country’s
in situ conservation efforts are reflected in its 14 biosphere reserves,
90 national parks, > 450 wildlife sanctuaries and many sacred groves.
Ex situ conservation methods include protective maintenance of
threatened species in zoological parks and botanical gardens, in vitro fertilisation, tissue culture propagation and cryopreservation
of gametes.
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