Conservation of natural resources

DR.SAURABH KUMAR
HOD, Department of Botany
Khandelwal college of Management Science &
Technology
Bareilly.
Dr. Saurabh Kumar, HOD, Botany, KCMT
B.Sc. Part III: Paper I Plant resource utilization, Palynology and Biostatistics
Topics Covered
Conservation of Plants resources for agriculture and forestry.
In situ conservation Sanctuaries, National parks, Biosphere reserve, Wetlands, Mangroves.
Ex situ conservation Botanical gardens, Field gene bank, Seed Bank, cryobanks

Natural Resource: Is any useful material found in the environment like soil, water, minerals,
vegetation etc., anything that helps meet people’s needs.
Natural resources are naturally occurring substances that are considered valuable in their
relatively unmodified (Natural) form.

Importance of Natural Resources: Natural resources plays a significant part in our lives.
It will be really difficult to imagine the world without the natural resources. The globe
without natural resources will be the as the globe without nature. The resources not only
add to our lives, they serve the realm of progress.
Conservation : Conservation has been defined as “the management for the benefit of all life
including human kind of the biosphere so that it may yield sustainable benefit to the present
generation while maintaining its potential to meet the needs and aspirations of the future
generations”.
Resources conservation has three specific objectives:
1.To maintain essential ecological processes and life support system
2.To preserve biological diversity
3.To ensure that any utilization of species and ecosystem is sustainable

Biodiversity: is the variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome or the entire
Earth. Biodiversity is often used as a measure of the health of biological systems.
Biodiversity or Biological diversity found on Earth today consists of many millions of distinct
biological species, the product of four billion years of evolution. Walter. G. Rosen in 1985
coined the term Biodiversity.
Coined by Norman Myers, the term “Biodiversity hotspots” can be defined as the regions
which are known for their high species richness and endemism.
To qualify as a biodiversity hotspot, a region must meet two strict criteria:
It must have at least 1,500 vascular plants as endemics — which is to say, it must have a high
percentage of plant life found nowhere else on the planet. A hotspot, in other words, is
irreplaceable.
It must have 30% or less of its original natural vegetation. In other words, it must be
threatened.
Major four biodiversity hotspots in India:
The Himalayas
Indo-Burma Region
The Western Ghats
Sundaland (South-East Asia) Dr. Saurabh Kumar, HOD, Botany, KCMT

Conservation Strategies

Concept of Threatened
Species

Types of Conservation
There Are Two Main Categories Of Conservation : In Situ Conservation And Ex Situ
Conservation.
I. IN SITU CONSERVATION
This Is The Conservation of Genetic Resources Through Their Maintenance Within Natural
or Even Human- Made Ecosystems In Which They Occurs.
This Is An Ideal System For Genetic Resources Conservation.
This Type Includes A System of Protected Areas of Different Categories, Managed With
Different Objectives to Bring Benefit To The Society. For example, Sanctuaries,
National Parks, Biosphere Reserves ,Wetlands, Mangroves, World Heritage Sites,
Sacred Groves, National Monuments, Cultural Landscape etc.
Belong To This Type Of Conservation is In-Situ Conservation, Therefore, Is Not Practicable
For Domesticates.

The advantages of in situ conservation
• The Species Will Have All The Resources That It Is Adapted Too.
• The Species Will Continue To Evolve In Their Environment.
• The Species Have More Space.
• Bigger Breeding Populations Can Be Kept.
• It Is Cheaper To Keep An Organism In Its Natural Habitat.
However there are problems
• It Is Difficult To Control Illegal Exploitation (like Poaching)
• The Environment May Need Restoring And Alien Species Are Difficult To Control

National Park
National parks have been defined by the International Union for the Conservation of
Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) as areas to be managed for ecosystem
protection and recreation.
National Parks under (IUCN Category II) are to be managed mainly for ecosystem
protection and recreation.
National park, an area set aside by a national government for the preservation of the
natural environment.
In United States of America in 1870 world’s first such park was established that
is Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.
They are natural areas of land or sea (or both), designated to:
(a) Protect ecological integrity of ecosystems for present and future generations;
(b) Exclude exploitation or occupation inimical to the purposes of designation of the
area, and
(c) Provide a foundation for spiritual, scientific, educational, recreational, and visitor
opportunities, all of which must be environmentally and culturally compatible.

Anthropogenic activities like developmental activities, industrial activities, forestry, poaching,
hunting, and cultivation are not permitted. The boundaries of National Parks are well defined
and no private activities are allowed inside the National Park.
A national park has more restrictions as compared to a wildlife sanctuary. Their boundaries
are fixed and defined.
Here, no human activity is allowed. They cannot be downgraded to the status of a ‘sanctuary’.
National parks can be declared both by the Central Government and State governments.
An area, whether within a sanctuary or not, can be notified by the state government to be
constituted as a National Park, by reason of its ecological, faunal, floral, geomorphological, or
zoological association or importance, needed to for the purpose of protecting & propagating or
developing wildlife therein or its environment.
The Chief Wildlife Warden shall be the authority who shall control, manage, and maintain all
protected areas.
Protected Areas are the principal mechanism of conservation of biodiversity on Earth and serve
as the most important units for in-situ biodiversity conservation.
India's first national park was established in 1936 as Hailey National Park , now known as
Jim Corbett National Park, Uttarakhand.

In 1972, (with Amendment Acts of 2003 and 2006) India enacted the Wildlife Protection Act
and Project Tiger in 1973 to safeguard the habitats of conservation reliant species.
There Are 105 National Parks In India(2021) Spread Over An Area of 40,564 Sq. Km
square. Or Nearly 1.23 % of The Country’s Geographical Area.
Great Himalayan National Park,
Himachal Pradesh

Ten Famous National Park
of India

Wild Sanctuaries
Any area other than area comprised with any reserve forest or the territorial waters can be
notified by the State Government to constitute as a sanctuary if such area is of adequate
ecological, faunal, floral, geomorphological, natural. or zoological significance, for the purpose
of protecting, propagating or developing wildlife or its environment.
Some restricted human activities are allowed inside the Sanctuary area
In Wildlife Sanctuaries Protection Is Given Only To Animals.
In Such Areas Hrvesting Of Timber, Collection Of Minor Forest Products And Private
Ownership Rights Are Permitted So Long As They Do Not Interefere With The Well Beings
Of Animals.
There are 553 existing wildlife sanctuaries in India covering an area of 119776.00 km2, which is
3.64 % of the geographical area of the country (National Wildlife Database, December, 2019).

Biosphere reserves are sites established by countries and recognized under UNESCO's Man
and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme to promote sustainable development based on local
community efforts and sound science.
The programme of Biosphere Reserve was initiated by UNESCO in 1971.
The purpose of the formation of the biosphere reserve is to conserve in situ all forms of life,
along with its support system, in its totality, so that it could serve as a referral system for
monitoring and evaluating changes in natural ecosystems.
The first biosphere reserve of the world was established in 1979, since then the network of
biosphere reserves has increased to 631 in 119 countries across the world.
Presently, there are 18 Biosphere reserves in India as on 2021 out of which 12 are also the
part of UNESCO MAB Programme.
Some Important Biosphere Reserves In India Are, Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve Which Includes
Part of Karnataka, Kerala And Tamil Nadu, Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve ,
Uttarakhand Including Valley Of Flowers And Nokerek Biosphere Reserve Including North
Eastern Himalayas.
The Special Features Of A Biosphere Reserve Are Combines Four Major Groups On Objective
Conservation, Research, Education, Local Involvement.

Biosphere Reserves in
India
Nilgiri, Biosphere
Reserve

Wetlands “Little known treasures” Nature's Kidney”
Wetlands are lands transitional between terrestrial and aquatic systems where the water
table is usually at or near the surface, or the land is covered by shallow water.
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded by water, either permanently (for years or
decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months).
Wetlands must have one or more of the following three attributes: 1) at least periodically, the
land supports predominantly hydrophytes; 2) the substrate is predominantly undrained hydric
soil; and 3) the substrate is saturated with water or covered by shallow water at some time during
the growing season of each year. Such Areas Include Swamps, Marshes, Petlands,
Lagoons, Lakes Etc.
Wetlands Are Known Repositories Of Many Valuable Biotic Resources.
They Have Been Serving The Human Civilization Since Times Immemorial. Yet, There Is No
Hue And Cry Over The Disappearance of A Few Little Known Wetland Flora That Supports
The Livelihood Of Large Population In Rural Areas.
These Are Mostly Seasonal, A Few Are Annual, Thus Sharing A Major Part In The Floral
Community Of Aquatic Vegetation. Apart From Leafy Vegetables, They Are Potentially
Nutritious And Medicinal In Nature Too. Without Manuring And Less Care, They Grow Wildly
In Fallow Wetlands. 2nd February is celebrated as world wetland day.

Marshes are wetlands that are permanently flooded or
flooded during high water periods at the edges of rivers,
streams, lakes, or ponds.
Meadows are wetlands with permanently or near-
permanently saturated soils. They may form a
transitional zone between marshes and other wetlands
with less-saturated soils, or occur in wet depressions and
swales or around groundwater discharge zones.
Prairie is an ecosystem that is usually intermediate in
wetness between sedge meadows and mesic prairies.
Bogs are basin wetlands for which precipitation is the
only source of water; they are typically not fed by
surfacing groundwater or streams.
Swamps are wetlands dominated by woody vegetation
that typically have standing water during at least
certain times of the year. They are often found in low-
elevation floodplains along rivers or slow-moving
streams.
TYPES OF WETLANDS

(Source: Ministry of Environment & Forests,
Government of India)
The Ramsar Convention
on Wetlands of
International
Importance Especially
as Waterfowl Habitat is
an international treaty
for the conservation and
sustainable use of
wetlands. It is also
known as the Convention
on Wetlands. It is named
after the city of Ramsar
in Iran, where the
convention was signed in
1971

Mangrove, any of certain shrubs and trees that belong primarily
to the families Rhizophoraceae, Acanthaceae, Lythraceae,
Combretaceae, and Arecaceae.
They form Salt Tolerant Forest Ecosystems Found Mainly In
Tropical And Sub Tropical Inter-tidal Regions.
They grow in dense thickets or forests along tidal estuaries, in
salt marshes, and on muddy coasts.
They characteristically have prop roots—i.e., exposed
supporting roots.
Respiratory or knee roots (pneumatophores) are characteristic
of many species; they project above the mud and have small
openings (lenticels) through which air enters, passing through
the soft spongy tissue to the roots beneath the mud.
In India, Mangroves Have Been Subjected To Reckless
Exploitation And Other Biotic Interference.
Mangroves‘Walking Forest in the Sea’ Mangroves (Rhizophora apiculata) at low tide
on the coast
Silver baitfish in a mangrove
channel
Mangrove propagules
(Rhizophora species)
Exposed roots of
mangrove trees
Mangrove trees on
Indian coast

Importance of Mangroves
Mangroves are extremely important to the coastal ecosystems they inhabit.
Physically, they serve as a buffer between marine and terrestrial communities and protect
shorelines from damaging winds, waves, and floods.
Mangrove thickets improve water quality by filtering pollutants and trapping sediments from
the land, and they reduce coastal erosion.
Ecologically, they provide habitat for a diverse array of terrestrial organisms, and many
species of coastal and offshore fish and shellfish rely exclusively on mangroves as their
breeding, spawning, and hatching grounds. Because of their high salt tolerance, mangroves are
often among the first species to colonize mud and sandbanks flooded by seawater, but an
increase in coastal development and altered land use led to a decline in global populations.
Several species are listed as vulnerable or endangered on the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.
Survive salinity, tidal regime, strong wind velocity, high temperature and muddy anaerobic soil
• Also known as ‘Tidal Forests’, ‘Coastal Woodlands’, ‘Walking Forest in the Sea’, ‘Root of
the Sea’ and ‘Oceanic Rain Forests’. • As ecosystems, they are symbiotic links between land
and sea.
Mangrove forests: disappearing by 0.7% in world but increasing by 1.2% in India!

“The current assessment shows that
mangrove cover in the country is 4,975 sq
km [(1.2 million acres)], which is 0.15%
of the country's total geographical area.”
“West Bengal has 42.45% of India's
mangrove cover, followed by Gujarat
23.66% and A&N Islands 12.39%.

Ex Situ Conservation
The Conservation Outside their Habitats By Perpetuating Sample Populations In Genetic Resource
Centers, Zoos, Botanical Gardens, Arboreta, Herbal Gardens, etc. or In The Form of Gene Pools
And Germ Plasm Bank For Seed, Pollen, Semen , Ova, Cells etc. Plants Are More Readily
Maintained Than Animals. In This Type Of Conservation Seed Bank, Botanical Gardens, Pollen
Storage, Tissue Culture And Genetic Engineering Have Been Playing Important Role.
PROTECTED AREA
Protected Areas Can Be Established In Many Ways. The Two Most Common Mechanisms Are,
Government Action ( Often At National Level, But Also Regionally Or Locally) And Purchases Of Land
Carried Out By Private Conservation Organizations.
Protected Areas Not Only Conserve Habitat And Species And Also Ecosystem Services To Humankind,
They Could Also Be Roped Into The Task Of Combating Climate Change.
When Biodiversity Conservation Is The Primary Goal, Reserve Systems Are Often Created For One Of
Three Purposes
Protecting Particular Species Example Threatened, Flagship, Or Umbrella Species.
Preserving Biodiversity, Focusing On Area Of High Species Richness
Preserving Large And Functioning Ecosystem And Their Associated Ecosystem Services.

Botanic gardens conserve plant diversity
ex situ and can prevent extinction through
integrated conservation action.
A botanical garden must be a public
institution committed to long-term
maintenance of its collections.
A private garden, even if it is open to the
public, is not generally considered a
botanical garden, as this commitment is
not certain and the garden’s vocation may
change radically if the owner changes.
Botanical gardens should always have
complete documentation of their
collections, control over plants collected
and demonstrate responsible management
of their collections.
Well documented collections allow
botanical gardens to support botanists
and other scientists by providing
documentation and resources for research.
BOTANICAL GARDENS

Botanical gardens have
three main objectives:
The first and best known objective is
recreation. Exhibitions, plant sales, picnics are
some of the possibilities that botanical gardens
offer.
The second very important objective of
botanical gardens is education. This includes
group tours, seminars as well as publications
and other ways of sharing information between
botanical gardens and horticulture and botany
professionals.
Finally, gardens have a scientific objective.
Gardens have always studied botany,
taxonomy and systematics. Today, fields of
study are even broader, from molecular research
in the lab to ecological field work. Conservation
and studies of local plants should also be
emphasized.

Role of Botanical Garden to Conserve Biodiversity
One of the most important roles that botanical gardens play in conservation is environmental
education. Each year, more than 150 million people visit gardens all over the world and have the chance
to get in touch with nature. Botanical gardens are a unique environment to raise public awareness and
help people understand the importance of biodiversity, and help in understanding that conservation is
everyone’s job.
The second obvious role of botanical gardens in biodiversity conservation is ex situ conservation. Ex
situ conservation (growing wild plants outside their natural environment) has many advantages.
Ex situ conservation helps to attain conservation objective by providing material to reintroduce plants into
degraded areas or to reinforce existing populations.
It also helps to remove wild populations from the pressure of scientists, horticulturists or collectors. The
presence of a rare species in a botanical garden makes it available for scientific research, education and
possible horticultural or commercial exploitation without affecting wild populations.
Ex situ conservation can also serve as an “insurance policy” for endangered species by creating a
protected reserve of especially vulnerable native species or populations.
It can even be the only solution if the natural habitat has been destroyed or if a species disappears.
Botanical gardens are ideal places to practice ex situ conservation because they have appropriate
facilities and skilled horticulturists and botanists.
Ex situ conservation includes not only the cultivation of plants in gardens and greenhouses, but also
maintenance of seed, pollen or propagule samples and in vitro cell and tissue cultures.

Kew Royal London New Garden UK
Longwood Gardens Philadelphia USA
Montreal Botanical Garden Canada
Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden USA
Orto botanico di padava Italy
Singapore Botanical Garden, Singapore
Munich Kirstenbosch botanical gardens South
Africa
Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bosh, Kolkata India
Botanical Australia
New York Botanical Garden
World’s largest collection of
plants
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew,
England
Montreal Botanical Garden
Canada
Singapore Botanical Gardens
Famous Botanical Garden
of World

This is a method of planting plants for the conservation of
genes. For this purpose, an ecosystem is created artificially.
Through this method, one can compare the differences among
plants of different species and can study them in detail. It needs
more land, adequate soil, weather, etc. Germplasm of important
crops are conserved through this method. 42,000 varieties of
rice are conserved in the Central Rice Research Institute in Orissa.
A field gene bank provides easy and ready access to the plant's
genetic resources, for characterization, evaluation or utilization.
The same material, conserved in the form of seeds, in vitro or
cryo must be germinated or regenerated and grown before it can
be used.
A field gene bank is also useful for conserving vegetatively
propagated genotypes that commonly produce variants since
these can be more easily identified and improved on in the field
than in vitro, the scientist explained
Aiming to conserve and improve the quality of litchis, the sweet
and juicy summer fruit has acquired its first field gene bank in
India - and possibly in the world - in Bihar's Muzaffarpur
district, renowned for its 'shahi' (kingly) variety.
Field Gene Bank

Seed Banks:
One of the most efficient methods of ex-situ conservation for sexually reproducing plants is
the storage of conservation material in form of seeds.
Every kind of seed has a distinct genetic makeup, thus consists a wide variety of genetic
diversity.
At practical level, seed bank depends upon secure power supplies, requirement for careful
monitoring, and periodical testing of seed viability.
Seeds of orthodox types which has been previously dried to about 5-8% moisture content can
be conserved for very long periods at temperatures below zero.
The longevity varies from taxon to taxon, viability of seeds in medium-term storage (0°-5°C)
can be 5-25 years whereas long term storage (-10°C to -20°C) can provide viability perhaps for
a hundred years.
Many tropical species produce seeds that possess no natural dormancy and die quickly if not
allowed to germinate immediately. These are termed as recalcitrant seeds.
Recalcitrant seeds are easily killed by the usual techniques of storing under reduced
temperature and humidity.

Species with recalcitrant seeds and those who do not
readily produce seeds are required to be maintained ex-
situ as growing plants in field gene banks or as living
collections.
Recalcitrant fruits and seeds like Cocos nucifera (Coconut
palm), Bertholetica excelsa (Brazil nut) are stored directly
on mother trees in Sacred Grooves, Forest and Biosphere
Reserves, National parks and in the Arboretums and Botanic
gardens.
The gene banks are closely related to plant collection
activities either for taxonomic studies or breeding.
The National Botanical Plant Genetic Resources
(NBPGR) New Delhi and Crop Genetic Resource Centers
have developed about gene banks with long- or medium-
term storage facilities of crop plants.
Currently only relatives of wheat (60 spp. or 75-80% of the
total), potato (40 spp. or 70% of the total), tomato (10 spp or
90% of the total), and to limited extent, maize (15 spp. or
50% of the total) have been extensively collected and
preserved in seed banks. Dr. Saurabh Kumar, HOD, Botany, KCMT

Preservation of Germplasm
Ex-situ conservation is the chief method for the preservation of germplasm obtained from
cultivated and wild plant materials.
The genetic materials in the form of seeds or from in vitro cultures (plant cells, tissues or
organs) can be preserved as gene banks for long term storage under suitable conditions.
There are several advantages associated with in vitro germplasm conservation:
i. Large quantities of materials can be preserved in small space.
ii. The germplasm preserved can be maintained in an environment, free from pathogens.
iii. It can be protected against the nature’s hazards.
iv. From the germplasm stock, large number of plants can be obtained whenever needed
v. Obstacles for their transport through national and international borders are minimal (since
the germplasm is maintained under aseptic conditions).
There are mainly three approaches for the in vitro conservation of germplasm: 1.
Cryopreservation (freeze-preservation) 2. Cold storage 3. Low-pressure and low-oxygen
storage Dr. Saurabh Kumar, HOD, Botany, KCMT

Cryopreservation:
Cryopreservation (Greek, krayos-frost) literally means preservation in the frozen state.
The principle involved in cryopreservation is to bring the plant cell and tissue cultures to a
zero metabolism or nondividing state by reducing the temperature in the presence of
cryoprotectants.
Cryopreservation broadly means the storage of germplasm at very low temperatures:
i. Over solid carbon dioxide (at -79°C)
ii. Low temperature deep freezers (at -80°C)
iii. In vapor phase nitrogen (at -150°C)
iv. In liquid nitrogen (at -196°C)
Among these, the most commonly used cryopreservation is by employing liquid nitrogen.
At the temperature of liquid nitrogen (-196°C), the cells stay in a completely inactive state
and thus can be conserved for long periods.
In fact, cryopreservation has been successfully applied for germplasm conservation of a
wide range of plant species e.g. rice, wheat, peanut, cassava, sugarcane, strawberry, coconut.
Several plants can be regenerated from cells, meristems and embryos stored in
cryopreservation. Dr. Saurabh Kumar, HOD, Botany, KCMT

Mechanism of Cryopreservation:
The technique of freeze preservation is based on the transfer of water present in the cells
from a liquid to a solid state. Due to the presence of salts and organic molecules in the
cells, the cell water requires much more lower temperature to freeze (even up to -68°C)
compared to the freezing point of pure water (around 0°C). When stored at low
temperature, the metabolic processes and biological deteriorations in the cells/tissues
almost come to a standstill.

CONSERVATION
PROJECTS
GOVERNMENT
PROJECT TIGER
PROJECT SAVE
THE RIDLEY
TURTLE
PROJECT RHINO
SAVE THE
GHARIAL
COMMUNITY
SACRED
GROVES
BEEJ BACHAO
AANDOLAN
CHIPKO
AANDOLAN
NAVDANYA
DR.SAURABH KUMAR
HOD, Department of Botany
Khandelwal college of Management Science &
Technology
Bareilly.

Conservation of natural resources

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