In situ conservation: hotspots, parks and sacred groves

Save the place, and you save the species

Suppose a rare orchid grows only on one hill. You can collect its seeds and keep them in a garden. Or you can protect the hill. Which is better? NCERT says that there are two ways to conserve biodiversity.

• In situ means on site. The species is protected in its own habitat.
• Ex situ means off site. The species is taken out of its habitat and kept in a human made place.

In situ conservation is the best way. The species lives with its partners in its own habitat. This lesson is about it. The next lesson is about the ex situ way.

Biodiversity hotspots

We cannot protect every place at once, so ecologists pick the places where protection is most needed. These are the biodiversity hotspots. A hotspot has two features.

• A very high species richness.
• A high degree of endemism. An endemic species is found in one region and nowhere else.

The ecologist Norman Myers first named 25 hotspots. Nine more were added later, and the number became 34 in NCERT. Later lists give 36 hotspots, so use the number of your own textbook.

Three of them cover the regions of India that are exceptionally rich in species.

• The Western Ghats and Sri Lanka.
• Indo-Burma.
• The Himalaya.

All the hotspots put together cover less than 2 per cent of the land of the Earth. Yet the number of species they hold is very high. NCERT says that strict protection of the hotspots could reduce the ongoing mass extinctions by almost 30 per cent.

You should find that a tiny share of the land can avoid a large share of the loss. That is why the hotspots matter.

Protected areas in India

India has also set aside places by law. NCERT gives the number of biosphere reserves, national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.

• 14 biosphere reserves.
• 90 national parks.
• 448 wildlife sanctuaries.

The count changes as new areas are added. These are the figures that NCERT prints, so check the figures of your own textbook.

The three kinds differ. The details below follow the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972 and the usual textbooks.

• A national park has the strongest protection. Its boundary is fixed by law. Grazing, hunting, farming and the private rights of people are not allowed.
• A wildlife sanctuary protects wild animals. Some human activities, such as the collection of minor forest produce, may be allowed if they do not harm the animals.
• A biosphere reserve is a large area with three zones. The core zone has no human activity. The buffer zone has limited use, such as research and education. The transition zone has farms, villages and other uses.

Sacred groves

Long ago, some communities set aside small patches of forest. The trees and the wildlife of a sacred grove are not touched, because the grove is a holy place. NCERT names these regions.

• The Khasi and Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya.
• The Aravalli Hills of Rajasthan.
• The Western Ghat regions of Karnataka and Maharashtra.
• The Sarguja, Chanda and Bastar areas of Madhya Pradesh.

In Meghalaya, the sacred groves are the last refuges of a large number of rare and threatened plants.

Try it in Python

The program gives the area shares of the zones of a model reserve.

Practise with new numbers

Common mistakes

• Mixing up in situ and ex situ. A zoo is ex situ. A sanctuary is in situ.
• Writing that hotspots cover 30 per cent of the land. They cover less than 2 per cent. The 30 per cent is the cut in extinctions.
• Putting a hotspot in the wrong place. The three Indian hotspots are the Western Ghats and Sri Lanka, Indo-Burma and the Himalaya.
• Saying that people live in the core zone. The core zone has no human activity.

Remember these

• In situ is on site and ex situ is off site. In situ is the best way.
• Hotspots: very high species richness and high endemism. 25 first, 34 in NCERT. Less than 2 per cent of the land. Almost 30 per cent fewer extinctions.
• Indian hotspots in NCERT: Western Ghats and Sri Lanka, Indo-Burma, Himalaya.
• India (NCERT): 14 biosphere reserves, 90 national parks, 448 sanctuaries.
• Sacred groves: Khasi and Jaintia Hills, Aravalli Hills, Western Ghats, Sarguja, Chanda and Bastar.

Check yourself

Try each one on your own first. If you are stuck, open a hint. Then check with Show the answer.

1. What does in situ mean, and why is it the best way?

2. Name the two features of a biodiversity hotspot.

3. Name the three hotspots that cover India, according to NCERT.

4. What happens in the core zone of a biosphere reserve?

5. Where are sacred groves found, as NCERT says?

References

• NCERT (2023). Biology, Textbook for Class XII, chapter 13, Biodiversity and Conservation, section on how do we conserve biodiversity.
• OpenStax Biology 2e (2018), chapter 47, Conservation Biology and Biodiversity, section on preserving biodiversity.
• Campbell Biology, 12th edition (2021), Pearson, chapter 56, Conservation Biology and Restoration Ecology, section on biodiversity hot spots.