Environment and Biodiversity
10 Apr, 2002 · 725
Col PK Gautam argues for the preservation of bio-diversity in the light of irreversible damage inflicted upon it by man made developments
Biological (bio) diversity is a gift of nature which is best appreciated at three levels, namely:-
India
, with its varied climatic and ecological zones, is blessed with rich sources of biodiversity like the
Himalayas
, the
Western Ghats
and the rainforests of North East. A unique feature of biodiversity is that the developing countries, or the so called poor South, is rich in biodiversity, while the North or the developed countries are poor in this resource. Between 1975 to 2000, 250 new species of flowering plants were discovered in Kerala. During this period none were discovered in
Europe
. But the rich North has advanced technologies. The combined global market in the year 2000 for genetic resources in agriculture, medicine and biotechnology was US $ 500 billion. This is one important economic reason for the flow of biodiversity resources from poor to rich countries in return for biotechnology.
Asia
. Nearly half the population in
South Asia
would become urban by the end of this decade, demanding more food, material and energy.
India
reportedly had 50,000 varieties of rice, geared to different local micro climates, water availability and soil structure. In
Bangladesh
, flood adapted rice varieties like bana aman (20 feet tall) and ropa aman are now rare. In the Garhwal Himalayas it was routine to plant 12 types of grains in a single plot, but not now. Other examples in different parts of
India
have a similar history. Now HYV rice covers 70 % of crop land and 90% with wheat. Only 15 - 30 plant species and crops, and 8 - 14 animal species provide 90% of human food. Standardisation and import of foreign breeds have threatened livestock diversity. Indian bullocks are also now discarded due to the advent of foreign milch cows and mechanisation. A popular example is the extinction of vultures in many parts of
India
that acted as nature’s scavengers. The scientific reasons for this extinction have not been established. It is estimated that upto 25 % of tropical forest species may be extinct in the next 25 years. Mangroves, plants, mammals, birds and reptiles are under threat.
USA
in September 2001, the threat of agricultural terrorism has increased. With mono culture, biotechnology crops may be easier to target than entire species. There is need to reexamine current agricultural practices using monoculture and intensive livestock production in which animals are closely confined. The problem is also to establish and differentiate between natural and intentionally induced diseases. The preservation of biodiversity may be the best defence.
(a) Genetic diversity: This is the genetic difference between species like varieties of a crop or livestock breed.
(b) Species diversity: Estimates by scientists vary between 3 to 100 million species. In the last 300 years, only 1.8 million species of plants, animals, fungi, micro–organisms etc. have been identified, recorded, classified and catalogued by taxonomists. The balance is yet to be discovered.
(c) Ecological system diversity: This is the variety in ecosystems that occurs in deserts, forests, wetlands, mountains, lakes, rivers, and agricultural landscape.
Our evolutionary history is 3.5 billion years old. Between 439 million to 65 million years ago there were five extinctions; sea level rise, loss of oxygen in the oceans, comet impact, volcanic eruptions and global warming were the underlying reasons. Now, for the last 10,000 years, humans have changed the landscape with agriculture by cutting down forests for cropland. The last 300 years have added to industrial practices with mechanical might to burn fossil fuel, dig mountains and mine the earth. This problem is compounded by a population nearing 7 billion with 60 % in
Before the advent of the Green Revolution and introduction of high yield variety (HYV) seeds,
With biotechnology there is great scope for increasing the food output with minimum inputs as compared to existing practices. But ever since the terrorist attack on the
Even before this widespread fear, the international community had taken stock of the loss of biodiversity being caused by economic and social practices. The threat in places was beyond repair and is irreversible. Even without terrorists this threat is a slow weapon of mass extinction. At the Earth Summit in
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