Biodiversity and sustainability
Since, the time immemorial, the
human beings have been striving for the needs of food. Whether it be Stone Age
or Iron Age or present generation, there has been a race for food between us.
For fulfilling our requirement,
the things we have done are highly unfavorable for the bio-diversity present on
the earth.
From the past, we can see human
being use to hunt animals and live along with them in forests. But soon they
discovered fire and learned agriculture which encouraged them to live near
rivers and clear the lands around the fertile regions of river basin for
agriculture. But after some years as soil loses its fertility due to
unavailability of knowledge of use of manures and farming techniques, they have
to move to different places, this started shifting agriculture where land was
degraded and then abandoned. All the animals and insects living in soil faced
its consequences.
The agricultural practice started
by them proved bane to the land, as a result there was a need for the modern
farming techniques.
The rapid growth of
industrialization in cities and conversion of villagers to cities lead to huge
destruction of forests and depletion of plants and animals species from that
specific areas, forcing them to change their habitat, thereby depleting their population.
The industries spruced innumerable harmful gases which affect the quality of
biodiversity in the surrounded areas.
Let’s take example of our delhi’s National bird, sparrow, which was found
abundantly around 1 decade back, has now vanished due to our activities. The
concrete jungle around their habitat and harmful pollutants released by
vehicles in delhi has completely destroyed their homes. Now they have migrated
to nearby states which has reduced their numbers and affected their species
drastically.
The plants in our areas have been
exploited by us in many different ways which we can’t even imagine. Medicinal
plants, flowering plants have been constant victims of our greed. We have seen
many people cutting them in large amounts for their purpose and commercial
needs. If they need them, then they should also plant them in the same ratio to
maintain ecological balance. But they don’t they resort to their traditional
ways. This reduces their species, in this way it increases the price of item,
and they earn more profit, but all ignore the danger inflicted on the species.
Come to Delhi’s Yamuna, its
biodiversity, plant and animal species, its water, all has been affected by the
industrial pollution and our greed. Its water level is now so reduced in some
parts that its flow has become still, with pollutants floating over it, its
fresh and clear water is now impossible to see in Delhi. Thousands of fishes,
small aquatic animals living in it has also been affected by this, they have
lost their lives and home in this. People also throw godly excess items left
after worship in Yamuna as it is considered sacred, it has not only polluted
and sucked it up but now only these items over its surface.
In our rural areas, in nearby
villages and small towns, people who owns cattle still bathe their cattle in rivers,
ponds and lakes which has affected the quality of water and has made it
unsuitable for aquatic life in it, also they use the same water for washing
clothes, bathing, drinking and other purposes which also affects their health.
In some cases, we also need to educate people that their actions need to be reformed and changed
for good.
Also forest fires is another
cause forest destruction which can also take place due to human mistake, these
fires destroy the forest and its biodiversity in pieces.
Hunting and poaching; one of the
main cause behind the depletion of animals in India, it has traditionally been
defined as the illegal hunting, killing, or capturing of wild animals, often
because of our greed for more and more money. Let’s look for its causes.
Until the 20th century, poor
peasants poached for their families and self-sustenance, thus supplementing
their meagre income. From the 1980s, the term "poaching" has also
been referred to the illegal growth of
wild plant species which affects other crops.
In 1998 a concept of poaching as
an environmental crime was proposed, it defined any activity as illegal that
intertwine the laws and regulations established to protect renewable natural
resources including the illegal trade of wildlife with the intention of
possessing, transporting, consuming or selling it and using its body parts. It
was considered that poaching is one of
the most serious threats to the survival of plant and animal populations.
Wildlife biologists and conservationists consider poaching to have a
detrimental effect on biodiversity both within and outside protected areas as
wildlife populations decline, species are depleted locally, and the
functionality of ecosystems is disturbed.
The detrimental effects of
poaching comprise:
Defaunation of forests:
predators, herbivores and fruit-eating vertebrates cannot recover as fast as
they are removed from a forest; as their populations decline, the pattern of
seed predation and dispersal is altered; tree species with large seeds
progressively dominate a forest, while small-seeded plant species become
locally extinct.
Reduction of animal populations
in the wild and possible extinction.
The effective size of protected
areas is reduced as poachers use the edges of these areas as open-access
resources.
Wildlife tourism destinations
face a negative publicity; those holding a permit for wildlife-based land uses,
tourism-based tour and lodging operators lose income; employment opportunities
are reduced.
Emergence of zoonotic diseases
caused by transmission of highly variable retrovirus chains:
Outbreaks of the Ebola virus in
the Congo Basin and in Gabon in the 1990s have been associated with the
butchering of apes and consumption of their meat. Ebola has emerged as a threat
for the whole world killing thousands of people, it has all been due to our
greed, and for it we are responsible.
The outbreak of SARS in Hong Kong
is attributed to contact with and consumption of meat from masked palm civets,
raccoon dogs, Chinese ferret-badgers and other small carnivores that are
available in southern Chinese wildlife markets.
Bushmeat hunters in Central
Africa infected with the human T-lymphotropic virus were closely exposed to
wild primates.
Results of research on wild chimpanzees
in Cameroon indicate that they are naturally infected with the simian foamy
virus and constitute a reservoir of HIV-1, a precursor of the acquired
immunodeficiency syndrome in humans.
Now see which species have been
threatened by us where.
In 2007, it was estimated that
parrot trappers capture about 65,000–78,500 wild parrots each year in Mexico,
mainly by setting nets or by collecting nestlings from tree cavities. About
50,000–60,000, more than 75%, die before reaching customers.
Millions of protected plants are
illegally collected each year. Plant poaching spans the illegal harvest of
ginseng roots, rare orchids, endangered cacti, pitcher plants and Venus
flytraps, and tree species such as aspen and western red cedar.
The solitary eagle is seriously
threatened by poaching. Illegal hunting of Baird's tapirs is a major threat for
populations in Costa Rica, Belize and Panama. In Panama, mammal species hunted
by poachers comprise white-tailed deer, red brocket deer, collared peccary,
agouti and coati. Geoffroy's tamarin, howler monkey, white-faced capuchin and
common opossum are captured less often.
West Indian manatees were
illegally hunted in the Port Honduras area in Belize at least until the end of
the 1990s. Poachers were suspected to come from Guatemala and Honduras.
Manatees were killed for meat, and their bones used for carving trinket and
other souvenirs sold in local markets in the Yucatán Peninsula. In 2002, it was
estimated that about 40 manatees are killed annually along the eastern Nicaraguan
coast and in inland wetlands by poachers and incidental drowning in fishing
nets.
Other species poached in Central
American countries and in the Dominican Republic for being traded alive include
Geoffroy's spider monkey, margay, ocelot, great horned guan, crested guan,
great curassow, ocellated turkey, great green macaw, Hispaniolan amazon,
Hispaniolan parakeet, red-billed toucan, chestnut-mandible toucan, raptors,
rosy boa, rattlesnake, Galápagos tortoise, beaded lizard, green iguana, poison
dart frogs and freshwater turtles. Snakes, spectacled caiman, Morelet’s and
American crocodiles are killed for their skins. Black iguana, mangrove cockle
and queen conch are poached for consuming their meat.
The population of the critically
endangered rhinoceros, inhabiting most of Sub-Saharan Africa, was estimated to
have been about 100,000 in 1960 and has now dramatically decreased to only
about 4,000, with poaching being attributed as one of the causes of this
decline in population. The commercial poaching of white and black rhinoceros
escalated in South Africa from 12 rhinos killed in 2004 to 946 rhinos killed in
2013. Rhino horns have increasingly been acquired by Vietnamese people. African
elephants, lions, greater kudus, elands, impala, duiker, reedbuck, bushbuck,
bushpig, common warthog, chacma baboon and greater cane rat are illegally
hunted for the bushmeat trade in Mozambique.
African elephants are being
poached for their ivory tusks – the heaviest teeth of any animal alive. In
October 2013 poachers poisoned more than 300 African elephants in Hwange
National Park in Zimbabwe. Conservationists have claimed the incident to be the
highest massacre of animals in South Africa in 25 years. African elephants
continue to remain a high target for poachers and some researchers have
estimated that African elephants may be extinct in 25–50 years in the wild.
African elephants have experienced a 60-70% decline in population in two
decades, 1979-2002. In Central Africa, 13,607 elephants have been poached in
2012 alone. In East Africa, 8,515 elephants have been poached in 2012 alone.
Illegal poaching for African
elephants has increased noticeably in 2008 and correlates with an increase in
price for local black market ivory and with increased findings of illegal ivory
headed to China. There is a probable species reduction of ~3% in 2011 alone.
Estimates of over 25,000 to 35,000 African elephants were killed for their
tusks in 2012.Despite ivory trade bans in 1989, elephant numbers continue to
decline in Africa. Finding and monitoring the origin of illegal ivory found
will significantly help in efforts to curb and suppress illegal poaching of
African elephants.
The body parts of many animals,
such as tigers and rhinoceroses, are believed to have certain positive effects
on the human body, including increasing virility and curing cancer. These parts
are sold in areas where these beliefs are practiced - mostly Asian countries
particularly Vietnam and China - on the black market and in India.
Humans have made a huge market of
it and for their greed fauna of biodiversity has been destroyed. Let’s look at
some examples.
Traditional Chinese medicine
often incorporates ingredients from all parts of plants, the leaf, stem,
flower, root, and also ingredients from animals and minerals. The use of parts
of endangered species (such as seahorses, rhinoceros horns, binturong and tiger
bones and claws) has created controversy and resulted in a black market of
poachers. Deep-seated cultural beliefs in the potency of tiger parts are so
prevalent across China and other east Asian countries that laws protecting even
critically endangered species such as the Sumatran tiger fail to stop the
display and sale of these items in open markets, according to a 2008 report
from TRAFFIC. Popular "medicinal" tiger parts from poached animals
include tiger genitals, culturally believed to improve virility, and tiger
eyes.
Rhino populations face extinction
because of demand in Asia (for traditional medicine and as a luxury item) and
in the Middle East (where horns are used for decoration).A sharp surge in
demand for rhino horn in Vietnam was attributed to rumors that the horn cured
cancer, even though the rumor has no basis in science. Recent prices for a kilo
of crushed rhino horn have gone for as much as $60,000, more expensive than a
kilo of gold. Vietnam is the only nation which mass-produces bowls made for
grinding rhino horn.
Ivory, which is a natural
material of several animals, plays a large part in the trade of illegal animal
materials and poaching. Ivory is a material used in creating art objects and
jewelry where the ivory is carved with designs. China is a consumer of the
ivory trade and accounts for a significant amount of ivory sales. In 2012, The
New York Times reported on a large upsurge in ivory poaching, with about 70% of
all illegal ivory flowing to China. Fur is also a natural material which is
sought after by poachers.
Now look at some natural
disasters which have taken place due to human activities with biodiversity and
nature which has resulted in loss of all; human lives, money and biodiversity.
Kedarnath tragedy which took
place in India previous year saw a similar situation where playing which nature
proved hazardous.
In fact in August 2012,
Uttarkashi district saw similar tragedy that left 29 dead, many more missing
and collapse of houses like card board boxes. The Uttarakhand State Disaster
Mitigation and Management Centre report of this disaster in Oct 2012 concluded,
“It is therefore highly important to strictly regulate developmental
initiatives in close vicinity of streams and rivers. Appropriate legislative
interventions would be required for formulating a policy in this regard and
firm executive action in accordance with letter and spirit of this policy would
be required to ensure compliance of the same.”
NOTHING WAS DONE ABOUT THIS
RECOMMENDATION.
Similarly in Sept 2012, Okhimath
in Rudraprayag district (one of the
epicentres of current tragedy) saw monsoon induced landslides killing 69 people
among other damages. That state DMMC report of this tragedy in Oct 2012 made
made recommendations to reduce the risks of landslides in landslide prone
state, one of them read, “Use of explosives in the fragile Himalayan terrain
for infrastructure developmental works introduces instability in the rocks and
therefore use of explosives should necessarily be banned.” And “This provision
would automatically ban habitation in the close proximity of seasonal streams
and rivers. In case people are already residing in such areas provision has to
be made for their timely relocation.”
AGAIN NOTHING WAS DONE ABOUT
THESE RECOMMENDATIONS.
We are sitting, waiting for more
disasters like this to happen. Our greed can neither come to end nor these
disasters.
Last but not least, growing
population is also one of its cause. It has rightly been said by david king,
"The massive growth in the human population through the 20th century has
had more impact on biodiversity than any other single factor."
--Sir David King
Never before has the population
of a single species exploded instantaneously across the globe. We have erupted
like the burning cinders and poisonous gases of a giant volcano and now cover
Earth.
As our population rose, our
growing needs demanded for agricultural needs, housing needs, industrial needs,
needs and needs, they don’t end , there is a long list of the them.
As now we have seen that how
humans have affected biodiversity, but we now also need and formulate plans for
how to cope up with the situation and deal with them to save and grow
biodiversity.
MAKE WORLD A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE IN
Madhur Kumar Sharma
X - C
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