How to conserve biodiversity

This article reviews the two main types of biodiversity conservation - in situ and ex situ.

Have you ever visited a botanical garden for a school field trip? Did you know that these gardens help conserve rare or important plants?

We might not think of plants or insects when we think of wildlife conservation - but all these organisms contribute to the biodiversity of a region. In the recent past, several species of organisms have become extinct (have died out), or are endangered (about to go extinct). This is a problem of national interest to several regions with high biodiversity, and so governments step in to help conservation efforts.

There are two main ways to conserve biodiversty. Read on to learn more about them.

Imagine you were in danger, and the police set up guard all around your neighborhood. This is an example of in situ protection; which literally means 'on site protection'. Here, the species of interest is protected along with its habitat or ecosystem. The species is left largely undisturbed, and can remain in its natural environment, performing its usual activities.

When do you think it would be useful to perform in situ conservation? Surely all species should ideally be protected this way, right? As you can imagine, it is not easy to set up such large conservation sites, which can also be quite expensive to manage. Another factor to consider is the number of individuals that need protection - animals that move in packs, or like to range across large distances will require a lot of space to live in, thus making in situ conservation more convenient.

One of the ways to shortlist important areas is to look at the number of species that are present only within them, or endemism. Regions with very high endemism are usually identified as biodiversity hotspots, and protected as wildlife sanctuaries, national parks, or biosphere reserves.

In addition, some regions have religious importance to certain cultures. Sacred groves in several parts of India actually protect forest areas that contain rare plants.

If there aren't many individuals of a species left in the wild, they can be taken out of their habitats and protected in special places designed for their safety. The botanical gardens we mentioned are an example of this type of 'out of place', or ex situ conservation. Other examples include certain zoos and safari parks.

Such conservation sites can also be used to study the characteristics of the organism, educate the public about the same, and even preserve specimens or help them reproduce (to increase their numbers).