“Protected areas play a very important role in in-situ conservation of species.” Elucidate the statement with respect to present day context in about 200 words.

 In-situ Conservation This approach deals with maintaining species in their natural habitats, which is believed to be the best way to maintain the earth’s biological diversity. It also allows natural evolutionary processes to continue and for species to keep on adapting to their surroundings. However, this needs good management practices and controlled land use to ensure the successes of conservation objectives. Thus Protected Areas play a very important role in in-situ conservation of species, particularly threatened species, by ensuring conservation of their habitat.

     When a location is selected, the design of the preserved area plays an important role and is characterised by three important characteristics: size, shape and connectivity. If the size of the preserved area is big it increases the number of species contained in preserved area. The rounder shape minimizes edge effects because the perimeter (edge) is smaller relative to the area inside than with other shapes. Connectivity between potential fragments allows members of the same species to immigrate and interbreed. The connections are also called corridors. Buffer zones are another important preserve characteristic.

A buffer zone is moderately utilised land that provides a transition into the unmodified natural habitat in the core preserve where no human disturbance is allowed.

Buffer zones are very important for both psychological and practical reasons and from this zone inhabitants of the area can derive some benefits from the preserve. By permitting moderate recreational forestry, farming and other activities, buffer zone provides jobs, and income with no ill effects on species in the core preserve. Other types of areas that are important for in-situ conservation of species are:

 

National parks and sanctuaries Most national parks are areas of land that have great natural beauty, which are set aside and protected for the conservation of habitat of many  plants and animals. In national parks peoples are allowed to enjoy the scenery and wildlife, but visitor management is often required to reduce conflicts between recreation and conservation. National parks are largely natural and unchanged by human activities, but many of them already had existing human impacts before they were designated for protection and human activities have often been allowed to continue. People have no rights in a National Park. The first wildlife sanctuary was the Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary near Madras, set up in 1878, which merely formalised the traditional protection afforded by villagers for pelicans, herons and other birds breeding at Vedanthangal. Another such sanctuary was set up at Ranganathittu near Mysore, in 1942. As in 2018, India has 103 National Parks, 536 Wildlife Sanctuaries and 18 Biosphere Reserves.

Captive Breeding Programmes Captive breeding does play an important role in elephant conservation. Some of the most successful captive breeding programmes are those where elephants are kept under semi-natural conditions like in forest camps. In the forest camps in southern India, elephants have been seen to regularly breed in captivity and it has also been observed that the elephant population has sustained itself without the addition of any elephant from the wild. In most forest camps, bulls and cows of all ages are kept together and are allowed to mingle with each other. They are also left in the forests at night, so that they can feed. Sometimes, the cows have been known to mate with wild bulls.

Crocodile Conservation In situ conservation of selected species of birds and reptiles has been fortified through captive breeding programmes. The Government of India started a Crocodile Breeding and Management Project in 1976 to save the three endangered crocodilian species, the fresh water crocodile, salt water crocodile and the gharial. Thousands of crocodiles of these three species have been reared at 16 centres and several of these have been released into the wild. Eleven sanctuaries have been declared specially for crocodile protection including the National Chambal Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. The endangered white-winged wood duck was also bred in captivity and released into Protected Areas of the Northeast, in an Indo-British collaborative programme.

Subcribe on Youtube - IGNOU SERVICE

For PDF copy of Solved Assignment

WhatsApp Us - 9113311883(Paid)