Bio Diversity

The important and desirable variety of plant and animal life in the world is termed as biodiversity.      

The variation found in trees, herbs, shrubs or animals can be termed as biodiversity. As we know that there are many rare species and to save those species and to balance the ecosystem conservation of biodiversity is very important.

The cause of biodiversity depletion can be natural or man-made. Natural causes include floods, earthquakes, landslides etc. Man-Made causes include deforestation, pollution, mining activity, desertification, etc.

Biodiversity depletion has resulted in the loss of many species like  stellar’s sea cow(Russia), Dodo(Mauritius), Thylacine(Australia), Quagga(Africa) and three sub species(Bali, Javan, Caspian) of tiger etc. More than 15,500 species are facing threat worldwide. Degradation of habitat either by deforestation or by pollution is the main cause of biodiversity losses. Also, animals are being killed by human beings to make leather bags.

According to a report only 200 white tigers and 3890 wild tigers are left in the world. The Amur leopard is one of the world’s most endangered wild cats as only 57 Amur leopards are left in the world.

White Tigers

 

Wild Tigers

If we talk about birds, then we have lost many birds also. For example:  Dodo, Labrador duck and the Laughing owl etc. According to a report the rarest bird in this world today is the Spix’s Macaw. For the last 100 years, only about 60 birds of this specie could have been supported. Kagu is nearly a flightless bird. Nowadays, between 250  and 1000 birds of this specie are left in this world.

Dodo

Kagu

There are mainly two methods used for conserving biodiversity:

v  In Situ Conservation method (On Site conservation method):

v  Ex Situ Conservation  method (Off Site conservation method):

Let us understand these methods.

In Situ Conservation method (On Site conservation method):

In this method the species are protected in their natural habitat. There are certain protected areas in which species are preserved. Some are listed below:

·         National park: State government declares some areas in which the habitat of animals are protected. It is known as national park. Animals live freely in national park. Only tourists are allowed. Any other activity which can damage the habitat of animals is not allowed over there. About 103 national parks are there in India.  Gir National Park in Gujarat, Kanha National Park in Mahya Pradesh, Dudhwa National Park in Uttar Pradesh are some of the National Parks located in India.

·          Wildlife sanctuary: It is a naturally occurring sanctuary which protects the species from hunters. No predation is there. In India there are about 543 wildlife sanctuaries.

·         Biospheres reserves: They are very large protected area. Here research or training can also be done. These areas may include national parks or wildlife sanctuaries. There are 18 biosphere reserves in India.

Ex Situ Conservation method (Off Situ conservation method):

In this method the species are protected outside their natural habitat. Conservation of genetic resources is there. Unlike in-situ conservation, ex-situ conservation measures give an “insurance policy” against extinction.

Water Preservation

Can you imagine your life without fresh water?  I am sure that your answer is no. It is horrible to think about world without fresh water then , why are we creating the world without it for our future generations?

Someone has rightly said,” We never know the worth of water till the well is dry.”

We need fresh water for drinking, washing clothes and utensils, making food and bathing etc.  But the wastage of water should not be there because freshwater is limited in this world and the wastage of water means that we are depriving the future generations of fresh water.

Water Pollution

 Oceans cover 70% of the earth’s surface and inland waters cover only 10% yet inland water contains 12% of the animal species alive today and oceans contain only 7%.   

And by polluting the inland waters we are killing these living species. Water pollution causes eutrophication i.e. depletion of oxygen from water bodies. The discharge of domestic sewage, industrial waste and fertilizers from agricultural fields introduces chemicals and nutrients which results in growth of algae in the waterbody. Hence, lesser amount of oxygen, heat and light penetrates into the waterbody. As a result, many organisms die.

 It is very awful to know that in this world still there are many people who do not get fresh water for drinking. They drink contaminated water and fall sick, and we are busy in throwing waste materials in inland waterbodies.

Diseases that are caused by drinking contaminated waters are cholera, dysentery, diarrhea, hepatitis A and many more.

We should be grateful to God for His blessings. If we are blessed with fresh water then we should thank God for it and the best way in which we can thank Him is by realizing the worth of water and by saving it.

Rain Water Harvesting

Some measures that we should take to preserve water are given below:

v  The waste materials should not be discharged in inland waters before proper treatment.

v  We should try to make people aware of water pollution and its effects.

v  We should try to save water in every possible manner. Not a single drop of water should be wasted.

v  We should close the tap if we are not using water.

v  We should promote rain water harvesting.

v  Proper methods of irrigation should be followed.

v  Rain forests should be conserved.

Soil Preservation

 Just imagine a world without soil. You must be thinking what rubbish I am speaking but believe me if the soil  is not preserved, there would be no fertile soil for growing crops.

Today the main problems that the soil face are soil erosion and soil contamination.  Deforestation is the main cause of soil erosion and the improper disposal of waste, industrial activities, acid rain and agriculture chemicals are the causes of soil pollution.

The harmful emissions of industries cause acid rain which in turn causes soil pollution.

We have to preserve soil and I think that afforestation is the best method to do so. Trees bind the soil and hence reduce soil erosion.

Soil Erosion

Some ways to reduce soil pollution are listed below:

v  By planting trees.

v  By using limited amount of fertilizers in agriculture activities.

v  By proper disposal of wastes.  I think it would be easier for the corporations to manage waste if we dispose it in a particular manner. The biodegradable wastes should be collected apart from non-biodegradable wastes. Every house should have different dustbins for these wastes.

v  By reducing the air pollution caused by industries.

We should make people aware of soil problems, its causes and solutions.

 

Forest Preservation

Forest is basically a large area covered with trees. We all know that these trees take carbon dioxide and release ‘oxygen’. By taking carbon dioxide trees purify air and the oxygen given by trees is the major need of human beings and animals. Trees also help perpetuate the water cycle as they return water vapor back to the atmosphere.

Forest serves as the habitat for many species also. But today we see that human beings are destroying this habitat .

       Actually with the increasing population, the human needs are also increasing. They require more land for living and for planting crops. Therefore to fulfill the needs, the trees are being cut down.

Lesser trees means more concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Increasing level of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is resulting in the rise in the average temperature of the earth which is ultimately affecting the climate. Deforestation is also resulting in lesser amount of rain.

I came to know about an incident sometimes before from one of my friend. She told me that a snake had bitten a man of her village while he was sleeping and as a result he lost his life. Snakes are supposed to live in forest so where did the snake came from? Actually we, the human beings are responsible for it .We destroy the habitat that is forest of such species like snakes and ultimately in the search of a suitable habitat they come in the villages.

So, from above it is clear that it is important for us to preserve the forests but how?

Our government has taken many measures to enhance the quality of forest cover. Many tree plantation programs have been initiated.  But the things can change only when we will come forward for it. We should take some steps to preserve the forests at our own level. Some steps that we should take are mentioned below:

The foremost thing that we should do is afforestation. All of us should take an oath that we will plant trees.  There is a famous proverb, “It takes drop by drop to fill a pitcher.”Planting of some trees (drops) by us will preserve the forest to some extent and will fill a pitcher i.e. it will fill a barren land with trees.                                                                      

vAs we see that mostly the trees are cut down for making papers. We should   use lesser quantity of papers. There is no need to take print out of every data. We should chalk out the data whose printing is necessary and only those data should be printed. No wastage of papers should be there.        

v  Reusability of papers should be there. Before throwing any paper  in a dustbin just think that is there any possibility to reuse it?  If yes, then we should use it.                                                            

v  Papers should be recycled.  For example: Newspapers can be again used for making envelopes.

v  Eat locally grown foods as it help in reducing the clearing of forests for agriculture purposes.

v  Support environment preservation methods. 

 Mahatama Gandhi said, “What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another.”

       We should try to preserve forest for ourselves and for one another.

Introduction

When I hear about the word ‘environment’ then  the first thing that comes in my mind is a beautiful scene which comprises of green trees, flowing rivers, lakes, birds chirping, dewy  petrichor,  animals, glossy and adorable fishes swimming in the river and variety of other organisms. But unfortunately in this era, this scene has changed.

         Now a days, environment is so polluted that the main matter of concern among people is environment pollution and its preservation only and it seems that the word ‘pollution’ has became the last name of ‘environment’. Even the first suggestion of search that some search sites give after typing environment in search box is ‘environment pollution’. Why is it not ‘environment beauty’? Actually some of the activities of human beings are responsible for this and the major necessity in this world is to preserve the environment.

Now the question is how to preserve the environment and why this need has arisen?

In the coming posts we shall talk about some important resources of nature and will try to find out the answer of the question mentioned above.