Conservation
Biodiversity: the magic of our planet!
Biodiversity found on Earth today consists of many millions of distinct biological
species, the product of four billion years of evolution.
But the word “Biodiversity” itself is actually quite new.
"Biodiversity" was coined as a contraction of "biological diversity" in 1985.
Biodiversity
• Biological diversity is the resource upon which families,
communities, nations and future generations depend. It is
the link between all organisms on earth, binding each into
an interdependant ecosystem, in which all species have
their role. It is the web of life.
The Earth’s natural assets are made up of plants, animals,
land, water, the atmosphere AND humans! Together we all
form part of the planet’s ecosystems, which means if there
is a biodiversity crisis, our health and livelihoods are at risk
too.
But we are currently using 25% more natural resources
than the planet can sustain.
Biodiversity
• In 2009, humanity used 40% more resources than
nature can regenerate in a year.
This problem - using resources faster than they can
regenerate and creating waste such as CO2 faster than
it can be absorbed - is called ecological overshoot.
We currently maintain this overshoot by liquidating the
planet’s natural resources. We can cut trees faster than
they re-grow, and catch fish at a rate faster than they
repopulate. While this can be done for a short while,
overshoot ultimately leads to the depletion of
resources on which our economy depends.
Biodiversity
• What we do know, however, is that the next 30
years are critical.
We also know that humans, and our behaviour,
have changed the Earth's ecosystems more
rapidly and extensively in the past 50 years than
in any other period of human history.
All in all, the loss of biodiversity is, arguably, the
greatest threat to world stability and security
today.
Globally, we now require the equivalent of 1.4 planets to support our
lifestyles.
Why Conservation of Genetic Resources of
Livestock is important?
• The diversity of livestock genetic resources is
very wide, both in variety and variability in
terms of species, breeds, populations and
unique genotypes. This diversity has been
recognised as a vital resource for sustenance
of mankind. Judicious utilisation and
enhancement of the quality of these
resources is important to ensure their
sustainability to meet future demands.
How much are ecosystem services worth globally?
• According to IUCN, the World Conservation
Union, the monetary value of goods and services
provided by ecosystems is estimated to amount
to some US$33,000,000,000,000per year.
• We harvest an estimated 50,000-70,000 plant
species for traditional and modern medicine
worldwide.
• About 100 million metric tonnes of aquatic life,
including fish, molluscs and crustaceans are taken
from the wild every year.
Conservation
• An endangered species is a population of
organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct
because it is either few in numbers, or
threatened by changing environmental or
predation parameters. The International
Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has
calculated the percentage of endangered
species as 40 percent of all organisms based
on the sample of species that have been
evaluated through 2006.
Critically endangered species
• Critically Endangered is the highest risk
category assigned by the IUCN Red List for
wild species. Critically Endangered means that
a species' numbers have decreased, or will
decrease, by 80% within three generations.
IUCN Red List
• The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also
known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data List),
founded in 1963, is the world's most
comprehensive inventory of the
global conservation status of biological species.
The International Union for Conservation of
Nature(IUCN) is the world's main authority on the
conservation status of species. A series
of Regional Red Lists are produced by countries
or organizations, which assess the risk of
extinction to species within a political
management unit.
Conservation movement
• The conservation movement, also known as nature
conservation, is a political, environmental and a social
movement that seeks to protect natural resources
including animal, fungus and plant species as well as
their habitat for the future.
• The early conservation movement
included fisheries and wildlife management,
water,soil conservation and sustainable forestry. The
contemporary conservation movement has broadened
from the early movement's emphasis on use of
sustainable yield of natural resources and preservation
of wilderness areas to include preservation of
biodiversity.
Conservation movement
• Some say the conservation movement is part of the
broader and more far-reaching environmental
movement, while others argue that they differ both in
ideology and practice. Chiefly in the United States,
conservation is seen as differing from
environmentalism in that it aims to preserve natural
resources expressly for their continued sustainable use
by humans. In other parts of the world conservation is
used more broadly to include the setting aside of
natural areas and the active protection of wildlife for
their inherent value, as much as for any value they may
have for humans.
Biodiversity
• Biodiversity is the degree of variation
of life forms within a given ecosystem, or an
entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the
health of ecosystems. Biodiversity is in part a
function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical
regions are typically rich whereas polar
regions support fewer species.
• Rapid environmental changes typically
cause mass extinctions. One estimate is that less
than 1% of the species that have existed
on Earth are extant.
ecosystem
• An ecosystem is
a biological environment consisting of all
the organisms living in a particular area, as
well as all the nonliving (abiotic), physical
components of the environment with which
the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water
and sunlight.
IUCN Red List Endangered species
• IUCN Red List refers to a specific category
of threatened species, and may include critically
endangered species. IUCN Red List of Threatened
Species uses the term endangered species as a
specific category of imperilment, rather than as a
general term. Under the IUCN Categories and
Criteria, endangered species is between critically
endangered and vulnerable. Also critically
endangered species may also be counted
as endangered species and fill all the criteria.
IUCN Red List Endangered species
• The more general term used by the IUCN for
species at risk of extinction is threatened
species, which also includes the less-at-risk
category of vulnerable species together with
endangered and critically endangered.
Conservation status
• Internationally, 199 countries have signed an
accord agreeing to create Biodiversity Action
Plans to protect endangered and other
threatened species. In the United States this
plan is usually called a species Recovery Plan.
Conservation status
• Conservation status by risk of extinction
• Extinct
Extinct
Extinct in the Wild
• Threatened
Critically Endangered
Endangered
Vulnerable
• At lower risk
Conservation Dependent
Near Threatened
Least Concern
Extinct
• Extinct: Examples: Dinosaurs, Pterosaurs, Javan
Tiger, Thylacine, Dodo, Passenger Pigeon, Caribbean
Monk Seal, Steller's Sea Cow, Aurochs, Elephant
Bird, Moa, Haast's Eagle, Woolly Mammoth, Woolly
Rhinoceros, Dusky Seaside Sparrow, Golden
Toad,Toolache Wallaby
• Extinct in the wild: captive individuals survive, but
there is no free-living, natural population.
Examples: Hawaiian Crow, Wyoming Toad, Spix's
Macaw, Socorro Dove, Scimitar Oryx, Catarina Pupfish
Critically endangered
• Critically endangered: faces an extremely high risk
of extinction in the immediate future.
Examples: Mountain Gorilla, Bactrian Camel, Ethiopian
Wolf, Saiga, Takhi, Iberian Lynx, Kakapo, Arakan Forest
Turtle, Sumatran Rhinoceros, Javan Rhino, Brazilian
Merganser, Axolotl, Leatherback Sea Turtle, Northern
White Rhinoceros, Gharial, Vaquita, Philippine
Eagle, Brown Spider Monkey,California Condor, Island
Fox, Black Rhinoceros, Chinese Alligator, Sumatran
Orangutan, Asiatic Cheetah, African Wild Ass, Hawaiian
Monk Seal, Mediterranean Monk Seal, Red Wolf, Amur
Leopard, Amur tiger
Endangered
• Endangered: faces a very high risk of extinction in
the near future. Examples: Dhole, Blue
Whale, Asian Elephant, Giant Panda,Snow
Leopard, African Wild Dog, Green Sea
Turtle, Malayan Tapir, Tiger, Steller's Sea
Lion, Asiatic Lion, Markhor, Bornean
Orangutan, Grevy's Zebra, Tasmanian
Devil, Japanese Crane, Gorillas, Bonobo, Wild
Water Buffalo, African Penguin, Goliath
Frog,Lear's Macaw, Rothschild Giraffe, Giant
Otter, Pygmy Hippopotamus
Vulnerable
• Vulnerable: faces a high risk of extinction in
the medium-term. Examples: African
Elephant, Cheetah, Gaur, Lion, Sloth
Bear,Dugong, Polar Bear, Indian
Rhinoceros, Komodo Dragon, Great White
Shark, Hippopotamus, Mandrill, Fossa, Crown
ed Crane,Clouded Leopard, Sarus
Crane, Galapagos Tortoise, Mountain
Zebra, Humboldt Penguin, Golden Hamster
Near threatened & Least concern
• Near threatened: may be considered threatened in the
near future. Examples: Blue-billed Duck, Solitary
Eagle, American Bison,Jaguar, Leopard, Maned Wolf, Tiger
Shark, Southern White Rhinoceros, Okapi, African Grey
Parrot, Striped Hyena, Narwhal,Magellanic Penguin
• Least concern: no immediate threat to the survival of the
species. Examples: Common Wood Pigeon, Rock
Pigeon, Giraffe,Common Bottlenose Dolphin, California Sea
Lion, Brown Bear, Grey Wolf, House Mouse, Scarlet
Macaw, Platypus, Bald Eagle, Brown Rat, Cane
Toad, Humpback Whale, Emperor Penguin, American
Crow, Wolverine, Human[4] Mute Swan, Mallard, Red-tailed
Hawk,Indian Peafowl, American Alligator, Southern
Elephant Seal, Meerkat
The Malayan Sun Bear is fast becoming an
endangered species as poachers hunt these
animals for their body parts
A hornbill at the KL Bird Park
Current Status and Future Demand
• Animal production contributes about 40 per
cent of the total value to agriculture globally.
Two billion people depend, at least in part,
directly upon livestock for their livelihood. The
4,000-5,000 breeds/populations provide a
broad variety of meats, milk and eggs,
together with a broad range of other goods
and services, such as draught, fibre, hides,
skin, manure, etc.
Current Status and Future Demand
• With appropriate management, livestock
enable sustainable use of marginal lands for
food production, transforming otherwise
unusable fibrous material into high quality
protein.
• Human population growth, progressive
urbanisation and larger purchasing power of
people will increase demand for livestock
products.
Current Status and Future Demand
• Considering future trends in demand and supply
of livestock products and services, attention for
genetic improvement will be required both for
indigenous and exotic breeds.
• Although, there is a need to utilise betweenbreed genetic differences through crossbreeding
for higher yields, greater emphasis is required on
improvement of adapted indigenous
breeds/types because of valuable adaptive traits
they have developed over long periods of time
through natural selection
Technology Assessment
• Major changes in livestock production have
occurred during the past few decades due to
introduction of several new technologies, e.g.
control of diseases like rinderpest, artificial
insemination, embryo transfer, and associated
technologies (genomics, cloning and
transgenesis). These speed up reproduction,
shorten the gene recovery process and enable
more efficient genetic improvement.
Technology Assessment
• Genomics is a discipline in genetics concerning
the study of the genomes of organisms. The field
includes intensive efforts to determine the
entire DNA sequence of organisms and finescale genetic mapping efforts.
• Transgenesis is the process of introducing
an exogenous gene – called a transgene– into
a living organism so that the organism will exhibit
a new property and transmit that property to
its offspring.
Technology Assessment
• Cloning in biology is the process of producing
similar populations of genetically identical
individuals that occurs in nature when organisms
such
as bacteria, insects orplants reproduce asexually.
Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used
to create copies of DNA fragments (molecular
cloning), cells (cell cloning), or organisms. The
term also refers to the production of multiple
copies of a product such as digital
media or software.
Technology Assessment
• Despite the present low efficiency and high cost of
cloning, this technology will have a major impact on
the conservation of livestock genetic resources. Once
practical sampling protocols are developed for
important farm animal species and they become
financially viable, the entire improvement and
conservation platform will change. It is, therefore,
necessary that research in newer biotechnologies is
intensified, so that traditional genetic improvement
methods like progeny testing and sire/dam selection
schemes are bypassed in future.
Strategy for Conservation of Livestock
Biodiversity
• A number of methods have been used for conservation
of livestock genetic resources. These include in situ
conservation of the breeds/populations,
cryopreservation of semen, ova, embryos, skin, blood,
DNA fragments, etc. These methods are relevant when
the breed is rare or near extinction. In India, the
situation is not so acute as to call for large-scale ex situ
conservation efforts. What is, however, necessary is
technology evaluation and perfection at selected
institutions which can be used whenever and
wherever required.
Strategy for Conservation of Livestock
Biodiversity
• Initiate programmes to study and identify valuable
adaptive traits at all levels (phenotypic, genotypic,
DNA/RNA levels) and locate structural genes/QRTs
responsible for these traits. Special emphasis should be
laid on: resistance to various diseases, resistance to
harmful endo- and ectoparasites, tolerance to large
fluctuations in quantity and quality of feed, tolerance
to non-availability of adequate quantity and quality of
drinking water, tolerance to extreme temperature,
humidity and other adverse climatic factors, adaptation
to low capacity management conditions, ability to
survive, regularly reproduce and produce for long
periods of time.
Strategy for Conservation of Livestock
Biodiversity
• Cryo-conservation as a means of maintaining breeds,
should also be considered where specific animal
genetic resources are at risk of loss. One of the most
useful aspects of cryo-conservation is its supportive
role in genetic upgradation of breeds.
• A complete description of each breed should be
generated on the basis of different profiles including
habitat distribution, physical conformation, adaptation,
production, reproduction and socioeconomic aspects.
• A complete database should be developed on
populations of different breeds within each
livestock species of the country. The database
should also identify factors threatening the
extinction of breeds.
• The association/society/unit should try to maintain: (i)
listing of all animals of each farmer, (ii) birth and death
register, (iii) health cover register, (iv) breeding register
and (v) monthly milk record register. All adult males
not used in breeding should be castrated and for each
castration the farmer should receive a reasonable
compensation. A district-level monitoring committee,
which will provide technical guidance and will involve
district animal husbandry officer and all veterinarians
in the district should be established. This will meet the
WTO requirement for import and export of livestock
and its products.
Species Specific Recommendations
• General
• There is large genetic diversity in livestock as reflected
in important domesticated species and a large number
of known and lesser known breeds/strains. It is
imperative that extensive surveys be undertaken in the
home tracts of the known breeds for their description
and evaluation and identifying the need and approach
to their conservation and improvement. Where the
numbers are extremely small, immediate efforts should
be made to conserve those breeds, preferably in situ.
• Species-wise recommendations for breeds, which require
priority attention for conservation, are as follows:
• Example
Cattle
Cattle breeds such as Red Sindhi and Sahiwal which have
their breeding tracts in Pakistan and Tharparkar, for which
we share the breeding tract with Pakistan, are available
with a few institutional herds and private breeders. They
should be further improved and conserved. Similar
attention should be given to Gir, Kankrej and Ongole breeds
of Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh. These could be utilised in
grading up of non-descript cattle under harsh
environments.
• Lesser known breeds of cattle such as Punganur, Red
Kandhari, Vechur, Bhagnari, Deoani, Lohani, Bengal,
Chitagang Red, Nepalese Hill, Kachcha Siri, Tarai, Lulu,
Sinhala, Umblacherry and Gangateri need to be studied
as genetic resource and steps taken for their
conservation and improvement.
A number of new breeds such as Frieswal, Karan Swiss,
Karan Fries, Sunandini are in various stages of
development from a crossbred base. Their further
improvement and conservation is necessary.
Glossary
• Sanctuary: a place where injured or unwanted
animals are cared for.
• Ordinance: an authoritative order.
• Legislation:laws collectively.
• Hectare: is a unit of area defined as
10,000 square metres (100 m by 100 m).
• An arboretum: is a botanical garden containing
living collections of woody plants intended at
least partly for scientific study.