AUTHORS- DR BABITA SINGH , DR RITU JAIN AND DR PRATIVA ANAND DIVISION OF FLORICULTURE AND LANDSCAPING IARI NEW DELHI- 110012

1. BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION

2. Seminar outline
Definition, type and importance of Biodiversity
Biodiversity Profile of India
Causes of biodiversity losses and
why to preserve it?
Conservation strategies
Summary and conclusion

3. Bio =
Biodiversity
Diversity =

4. Which do you like better?
A B

5. A B
Which do you like better?

6. A B
Which do you like better?

7. Components of biodiversity
Genetic
diversity
Species
diversity
Ecosystem
diversity

8. Species diversity
• The number or variety of
species in a particular region
• Species = a particular type of organism; a population or group of
populations whose members share certain characteristics and can
freely breed with one another and produce fertile offspring

9. Genetic diversity
• Includes the differences in DNA composition among individuals within a
given species
• Adaptation to particular environmental conditions may weed out genetic
variants that are not successful.

10. Ecosystem diversity
Aquatic diversity Forest diversity
Desert diversity

11. Important Role of Biodiversity
• Ecological Role…..
• Economic Role…..
• Scientific Role…..

12. Ecological Role of Biodiversity
• All species provide at least one function in an ecosystem. Each
function is an integral part of regulating the species balance, species
diversity and species health: all aspects which are intrinsic for the
ecosystem as a whole to survive and prosper

13. Economic Role of Biodiversity
Food Goods Recreation

14. Benefits of biodiversity: Food security
• Many species not now
commonly used for
food could be used in
future
• Genetic diversity within
crop species and their
relatives enhances our
agriculture and
provides insurance
against losses of
prevalent strains of
staple crops

15. Benefits of biodiversity: Medicine

16. Rare and Endangered Plants of India
1.Polygala irregularis
Gujarat(rare)commonly known as Milkwort is an annual
or perennial herb.Blooms during July and August.The
plants are found at an altitude of 1000 meters.The flowers
are found in blue ,near white ,pink and white in color.The
plants are destroyed due to human habitation and land
for agriculture.
2.Diospyros celibica
Karnataka(threatened)Ebony tree -It is a flowering tree
and considered highly by woodworkers as they are widely
used for making high quality furniture.The trees can grow
up to 20 metres height under favourable conditions..But in
the past two centuries it has become a very scarce and
hardly found in India.

17. 3.Chlorophytum tuberosum
Tamilnadu it is an endangered plant is also called
musli.It is a flowering plant native to Africa and
India.It has historical uses in Ayurveda
commonly used for strength and vigour. The
plant belongs to Liliaceae family.
4.Chlorophytum malabaricum
Tamilnadu(threatened)known as malabar lily found
in western ghats.It is a small herb with stem closely
attached with leaves.Flowers are star shaped and
highly fragrant.They are found in western Ghats of
India.

18. 5.Colchicum luteum
Himachalapradesh (rare and threatened)This herb
is generally found at the height of 2000 to 9000
feet.Its tuberous root is oval in shape and bears a
dark brown colour.leaves are 6 to 12 inches in
length and they are 1/4 to 1/2 inch in width.The
flowers are Hermophrodite.It is a medicinal herb
used to suppress pain and to heal open wounds.
6.Nymphaea tetragona
Jammu and Kashmir(endangered and
threatened) is a pygmy water lily is the tropical
representative of diminutive water lilies. The
original distribution was confined to
Jammu,Kashmir and Megalaya.it is a very small
herb and very susceptible to pests and
disease.These plants are found in Indian sub
continents where The Buddhist monks used
these flower to offer god and conserved it as
ritual plant in temple gardens.

19. 7. Acacia planifrons
Tamilnadu(rare)(umbrella thorn)they grow
as a shrub or a short tree.In tamil they are
called kudai vel,the tree is used as a fuel and
fodder for sheep and goats. When the tree is
fully grown it appears as a spreaded
umbrella.
8. Lotus corniculatus
Gujarat(rare)this plant belongs to pea family
.The plant bear pretty little yellow flowers grow
in a circle, at the end of a stem.They are very
bright and easily spotted along the roadside.It is
used in agriculture as a forage plant,grown for
pasture, hay and silage. Plants are perennial,
herbaceous similar to some clover.They are also
called as bird’s foot refers to the appearance of
the seed pods on their stalk.

20. 9.Abutilon indicum
Tamilnadu(rare) commonly known as indian
mallow is a small shrub in Malvaceae family.it is
used as medicinal plant and they occur in number
of tropical and subtropical zones.The plant was
much used in sidda medicine.The root,bark,flowers
and leaves are all used for medicinal purposes.It is
called thuthi in tamil athibalaa in Sanskrit.
10.Actinodaphne lawsonii
Kerala(threatened)it belongs to lauraceae family
.It is endemic and it is threatened by habitat
loss.It is canopy or sub canopy trees found in high
elevation evergreen forest between 1200 to 2400
meters.The leaves are aromatic and has medicinal
use.
11.Ginkgo biloba, known as ginkgo or maidenhair
tree, is the only living species in the division
Ginkgophyta, all others being extinct. It is
recognizably similar to fossils dating back 270 million
years. Its leaves are generally used for making
medicines. Ginkgo is often used for memory disorders
including Alzheimer’s disease.

21. Scientific Role of Biodiversity
• Genetic resources: Biotechnology
and genetic enginnering use the genes
of organisms to make new crops and
medicines.
• Each species can give scientist some
clue as to how life evolved and will
continue to evolve.

22. Loss of Biodiversity
• The tiger, Panthera tigris, had 8 subspecies.
• 5 persist today, including Panthera tigris altaica, the Siberian tiger.

23. India’s richness of biological diversity
India’s
Biodiversity
European
biodiversity
African
biodiversity
Indo-
Malaysian
India’s
Biodiversity

24. Mega biodiversity country
India’s Zoogeography and Geological History
•Total 9% species of the world
•12.51% of flora
•7.51% Fauna

25. India, being a vast country, shows a great
diversity in climate, topography and
Geology and hence the country is very rich
in terms of biological diversity

26. Flora and Faunal diversity in India
Flora and Faunal diversity
in India
Group
Number of species in
India
Algae 2,500
Fungi 23,000
Lichens 1,600
Bryophyta 2,700
Pteridophyta 1,022
Gymnosperm 64
Flowering plant 17,000
Total 47,886
Source: Venu, p. 2002.

27. Comparative statement of recorded number of
animal species in India and the World
Taxa Species World Percentage of
India to the
world
Protista 2577 31259 8.24
Mollusca 5070 66535 7.62
Arthropoda 68389 987949 6.9
Other invertebrates 8329 87121 9.56
Protochordata 119 2106 5.65
Pisces 2546 21723 11.72
Amphibia 209 5150 4.06
Reptilia 456 5817 7.84
Aves 1232 9026 13.66
Mamalia 390 4629 8.42
Total 89,451 12,21,315 7.51
Source: MoEF, report-2008
Source: MoEF, report-2008

28. Biogeographic Diversity in India
1. The Trans-Himalayan region
2. The Himalayan region
3. The Indian desert
4. The Semi-arid zones
5. The Western Ghats
6. The Deccan Peninsula
7. The Gangetic plain
8. The Northeast India
9. The Islands
10. The Coasts
Biogeographic
region of India

29. The other important features that contribute to
India’s rich biodiversity are
1. Physiography of India
2. Variety in elevation and local climate
3. Wetland
4. Forests
5. Marine environment

30. India figured with 2 hotspot out of 25 world’s
biologically richest and most threatened ecosystems.
These two hotspot that extended into India are
•Western Ghats/Sri Lanka
•Eastern Himalayas
And they included amongst the top 8 most important
hot spots.
Biological hotspots in India

31. Western Ghats:
The region is home to rich
(1600) endemic assemblage of
plants (Indian rosewood
Dalbergia latifolia, Malabar Kino
Pterocarpus marsupium, teak
and Terminalia crenulata)),
reptiles and amphibians as
well as elephants, tigers and
endangered Lion tailed
Macaque

32. NE Himalayas: It’s a home to a variety of large birds,
mammals including tiger, elephants, rhinos and wild water
buffaloes.

33. Extinct species from India

36. Biodiversity Conservation
 Biodiversity is the very foundation for all the earth’s essential goods
and services.
 Every aspect of our life is sustained by the Earth’s biodiversity.
 In the modern era, due to human actions, species and ecosystems
are threatened with destruction to an extent rarely seen in Earth
history.

37. How did we get myth ?
 That the world has an unlimited supply of resources for human use
 That humans are separate and apart from nature
 That nature is something to overcome

38. What is idea needed to a transformation from
industrial man to the earthmanship man
 That we accept the limits to mans control over nature
 That we see the entire world as an interconnected unit
 To protect ourselves we must protect nature

39. Why Conserve the
biodiversity ?
Foods and
essential
commodities
Medicinal Value
Industrial
Value
Economic
Services
Mitigation of
green house
effect
Importance in
Agric.
Acidic Parent
materials
Soil
management
and Erosion
control
Cultural and
aesthetic values

40. Habitat Loss and
degradation
Urbanization
Domino effects
Jhooming
cultivation
Climate change
Limited
Distribution
Over
exploitation
Excessive Mining
Industrialization
Hunting and
Poaching
Fishing
Deforestation
Alien Invasive
species
Species based
mechanism
Ecosystem based
mechanism
Genetic Pollution
Genetic Erosion
Tourism and
Recreation
Natural
calamities and
incidental take
Tsunami ,
Hurricane and
Flood
Forest fire
Drought
Outburst of
endemic disease
Oil spill
Major threats of biodiversity

41. 1. Habitat
loss &
degradation
Urbanization
&
Industrializat
ion
Climate
Change
Jhooming
Cultivation

42. 2. Over exploitation
Excessive
mining
Hunting
and
poaching
Deforestati
on &
Overgrazing
Excessive
Fishing

43. 3. Alien Invasive Species
i
• Species based mechanism
ii
• Ecosystem based mechanism
iii
• Genetic Pollution
iv
• Genetic erosion
v
• Tourism and Recreation

44. 4. Natural calamities and incidental take
Tsunami ,
Hurricane
and Flood
Forest
fire
Drought
Outburst
of
endemic
diseases
Oil spill

45. 0 40 80 0 40 80 0 40 80
Percentage Species Affected
Mammals Amphibians Birds
Habitat Loss
Over-exploitation
Invasive Species
Human Disturbance
Pollution
Natural Disasters
Species Dynamics
Incidental Mortality
Disease
Persecution

46. Why to conserve
biodiversity ?
Direct
consumptive
value Aesthetic and
recreational
value
Ecological
balance
Indirect
ecosystem
services
Ethical issues

47. Management of bio diversity conservation
Prioritization
Vulnerability to extinction (IUCN)
Planning
Degree of vulnerability Probability of
extinction
Years
Extinct Not sighted since last 50 years
Critically endangered 50% 5
Endangered 20% 20
Vulnerable 10% 100
Priorities in
action
Complex
programmes
in sensible
sequence
Budget and
constraints
Monitoring
and
evaluation
Monitoring
 population of species changing on the site
 Population of pest species changing
 Population estimate from mark release recapture
 Habitat requirement for a species

48. Strategies to conserve biodiversity
In-situ conservation
Ex-situ conservation
 Bio sphere reserves
 National parks
 Sanctuaries
 Gene bank
 Seed bank
 Sperm bank

49. Man and Biosphere Programme (MAB) ,
UNESCO, 1971
Major initiatives
Purpose - to conserve in-situ all forms of life along with its
support system in its totality so that it can serve as a referral
system for monitoring and evaluation of changes in the
ecosystem
At present there is a network of 564 biosphere reserves
across 109 countries

50. Name Area (Sq. Km.) State
1. Achanakamar - Amarkantak 3835.51 Part of MP and Chh.garh
2. Agasthyamalai 1828 Kerala
3. Dehang-Dibang 5111.50 Arunachal Pradesh
4. Dibru-Saikhowa 765 Assam
5. Great Nicobar 885 Andaman And Nicobar
6. Gulf of Mannar 10,500 Tamil Nadu
7. Kachchh 12,454 Gujarat
8. Khangchendzonga 2619.92 Sikkim
9. Manas 2837 Assam
10. Nanda Devi 5860.69 Uttarakhand
11. Nilgiri 5520 TN, Kerala and Karnataka
12. Nokrek 820 Meghalaya
13. Pachmarhi 4926 Madhya Pradesh
14. Simlipal 4374 Orissa
15. Sunderbans 9630 West Bengal
Biosphere reserves in India

51. Convention on wetlands of international
importance (especially waterfowl habitat), 1971
 Held at Ramsar, Iran, 1971
 International collaboration on wetland conservation,
including mangrove and coral reefs
 Four obligations of collaborating parties
1. Considering wetland conservation within national land use planning
2. The Ramsar site
3. Promotion of natural reserves
4. Wetland wardening by trained staff
 116 participating countries, over thousand Ramsar
sites

52. Ramsar sites in India

53. Wild life protection act, 1972
 Provides for protection of wild plants and
animals and related articles
 regulates sale, barter of notified wild plant and animal
species
 control over keeping wild animals under captivitty
Amendments
1991
Control over possession of notified wild plant species
Ban over notified bird trading
2006
Establishment of National Tiger Reserve Authority

54. Convention on Biological diversity (CBD), 1992
Held at Earth Summit in Rio de generio, on 5th June 1992
Goals:
1. conservation of biological
diversity
2. Sustainable use of its
components
3. Fair and equitable sharing
of benefits arising from
genetic resources
Conservation strategy, April 2002
The Gran Canaria Declaration
The 16 point plan
193 participating countries

55. Protected Area Networks in India at a glance
To maintain reach biological diversity of the Indian Himalayan region
Further strengthened by a number of national conservation acts and
projects
 Current status:
595 pretected areas, (1,55,978 Km2 , 4.7% of the total geographical area )
 Comprising of
95 national parks (38,024 Km2 , 1.16 % of the total geographical area)
500 wild life sanctuaries (117913 Km2 , 3.59 % of the total geographical area)
2 Conservation reserves (40.50 Km2 )

56. Fisheries Act, 1897.
Destructive Insects and Pests Act, 1914.
The Indian Forest Act, 1927.
Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marketing) Act,1937.
Indian Coffee Act, 1942
Import and Export (Control) Act, 1947.
Rubber (Production and Marketing) Act, 1947.
Tea Act, 1953.
Various India acts related to biodiversity
conservation

57. Mining and Mineral Development (Regulation) Act,1957
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.
Customs Act, 1962.
Cardamom Act, 1965.
Seeds Act, 1966.
The Patents Act, 1970.
Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

58. Marine Products Export Development Authority Act,1972.
Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974.
Tobacco Board Act, 1975.
Territorial Water, Continental Shelf, Exclusive Economic
Zone and other Maritime Zones Act, 1976.
Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Cess Act,
1977.
Maritime Zones of India (Regulation and Fishing by
Foreign Vessels) Act. 1980.
Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980.

59. Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export
Development Authority Act, 1985/1986.
Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
National Dairy Development Board, 1987.
Rules for the manufacture, use/import/export and storage
of hazardous microorganisms/ genetically engineered
organisms or cells, 1989

60. Plant Quarantine (Regulation of Import into India) Order, 2003
Biological Diversity Rules, 2004
The Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006
Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers
(Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006.
Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act,
1992.
Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights
(PPVFR) Act, 2001
Biological Diversity Act, 2002

61. Biological Diversity Act, 2002
Conservation of biological diversity
Sustainable use of biological resources
Equitable sharing of the benefit of such use

62. (i) Inspection of imported agricultural
commodities
(ii) Inspection of plants and plant material
(iii) Detection of exotic pests and diseases
Plant Quarantine (Regulation of Import
into India) Order, 2003

63. The Food Safety and Standards
Act, 2006
Consolidate the laws relating to food and
to curb Food Adulteration
Food Safety Management System

64. Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest
Dwellers (Recognition of Forest) Act, 2006.
i) To give rights to Scheduled Tribes and other traditional
Forest Dwellers of land in their historical possession.
ii) To provide rights to Scheduled Tribes and other traditional
forest dwellers to collect, use and dispose off minor forest
produce.
iii) To provide rights to Scheduled Tribes and other
Traditional Forest Dwellers on land used for Community
purposes.

65. DOLPHIN CONSERVATION ACTION PLAN, INDIA
Detailed surveys
Immediate actions for dolphin
conservation
Community involvement and the
mitigation of human-dolphin conflict

66. CLEANING GANGA AND CONSERVATION OF
BIODIVERSITY
Ganga river basin project
Impemented with world bank-Rs.7000
crores
Industrial,solid waste,riverfront,sewage
treatment

67. Securing India’s Future
Diversity and Importance of India’s Biodiversity
Loss of India’s Biodiversity
Ongoing Positive Initiatives

68. Key Strategies and Actions For Future
Preparing a national land and water use plan
Re-orienting development related policies, laws and schemes
Ecological planning
Integrating biodiversity
Expanding and strengthening the network
Conserving areas
Respecting, protecting and building on traditional knowledge
Strengthening and promoting community level gene banks

69. Promoting indigenous ,nutritionally superior food crops
Regulating tourism
Facilitating sustainable,bio resource based livelihood
Re-orienting state and national budget
Increasing funding for conservation measures
Promoting traditional and new technology
Facilitating and developing ecologically conscious
consumer group and market