Biodiversity and its Conservation

Biodiversity (biological diversity) is the variety of living things at three levels:

• Genetic diversity: variation within a species (the thousands of rice varieties in India)
• Species diversity: the variety of species in a region
• Ecosystem diversity: the variety of habitats, such as forests, wetlands, deserts and reefs

Scientists have described around two million species, but the real number is far greater; many, especially insects, microbes and deep-sea life, remain unknown.

India has ten biogeographic zones, each with its own mix of climate, vegetation and wildlife: Trans-Himalaya, Himalaya, Desert, Semi-Arid, Western Ghats, Deccan Peninsula, Gangetic Plain, North-East, Islands, and Coasts. The Western Ghats and the North-East are especially rich in endemic species, while the Trans-Himalaya shelters species such as the snow leopard.

The value of biological resources also raises ownership questions. Patents on turmeric and neem uses were successfully challenged in the 1990s and 2000s because they were traditional Indian knowledge, a lesson that led to stronger protection of intellectual property over biological resources.

Biodiversity is richest in the tropics, and very unevenly spread: a small number of countries hold most of the world’s species.

• Global: tropical rainforests and coral reefs are the richest ecosystems
• National: India has about 2.4% of the world’s land area but around 8% of its recorded species
• Local: sacred groves, village ponds, farm varieties and traditional breeds. The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 set up the National Biodiversity Authority (headquartered in Chennai), State Biodiversity Boards, and local Biodiversity Management Committees that prepare People’s Biodiversity Registers.

Seventeen countries, including India, Brazil, Indonesia and Australia, together hold a very large proportion of the world’s species and are called mega-diverse. India’s diversity comes from its varied geography, from the Himalaya to the Western Ghats, desert to rainforest, and long coast and island groups. Well over a hundred thousand animal species and tens of thousands of plant species have been recorded by the Zoological and Botanical Surveys of India.

Conservation International recognises 36 hotspots worldwide, covering a small fraction of land but containing a very large share of endemic species. India has four, partly shared with neighbouring countries:

• Himalaya
• Indo-Burma (the North-East)
• Western Ghats and Sri Lanka
• Sundaland (includes the Nicobar Islands)

• Habitat loss and fragmentation: the biggest cause of species decline, from farming, roads, mining and urban sprawl
• Poaching and illegal wildlife trade: tiger bone and skin, rhino horn, ivory, pangolin scales, red sanders wood
• Man-wildlife conflict: as habitats shrink, elephants raid crops and leopards enter villages, causing deaths and retaliation. Remedies include compensation, early-warning systems, wildlife corridors and fences.
• Invasive alien species: lantana, water hyacinth and Prosopis juliflora choke out native plants
• Pollution and climate change: coral bleaching, shifting ranges, disrupted breeding

The IUCN Red List classifies species as Least Concern, Near Threatened, Vulnerable, Endangered, Critically Endangered, and Extinct in the Wild or Extinct. An endemic species occurs naturally only in one region.

The cheetah was declared extinct in India in 1952. A reintroduction project began in 2022 with cheetahs brought from Africa to Kuno National Park, Madhya Pradesh.

In-situ conservation is preferred because it protects the whole ecosystem and lets species keep evolving; ex-situ methods are a safety net for species on the brink.

Launched in 1973 with nine reserves, Project Tiger became one of the world’s best-known conservation programmes. India’s tiger count rose from about 1,400 in 2006 to 3,682 in the 2022 estimation, and the number of tiger reserves has grown to 58.