BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION

Why Should We Conserve Biodiversity?

Reasons

1 Narrowly utilitarian argument for conserving biodiversity are obvious; humans derive countless direct economic benefits from nature food, firewood, fiber, construction material, industrial products and products of medicinal importance

2 Broadly utilitarian arguments say that biodiversity plays a major role in many ecosystem services that nature provides.

3 Ethical arguments for conserving biodiversity relates to what we owe to millions of plant, animal and microbe species with whom we share this planet

How do we conserve Biodiversity?

1 In situ conservation-

Conservation in natural environment like by protected areas, Biosphere reserve, Sacred Forest and reserve.

2 Ex situ Conservation– By creating natural habitat in a specified area or inside laboratory condition. By setting up botanical garden, zoos, pollen and seed banks, tissue culture, gene banks etc. The gametes of threatened species can be preserved in viable and fertile condition for long periods using cryopreservation techniques, eggs can be fertilized in vitro, and plants can be propagated using tissue culture methods.  Seeds of different genetic strains of commercially important plants can be kept for long periods in seed banks.

Biodiversity knows no political boundaries and its conservation is therefore a collective responsibility of all nations.  The historic Convention on Biological Diversity (‘The Earth Summit’) held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, called upon all nations to take appropriate measures for conservation of biodiversity and sustainable utilisation of its benefits.  In a follow-up, the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in 2002 in Johannesburg, South Africa, 190 countries pledged their commitment to achieve by 2010, a significant reduction in the current rate of biodiversity loss at global, regional and local levels.

Biodiversity Conservation: Issues and Strategies for the Tropical Islands -  ScienceDirect