Saving our Environment

Biodiversity is the variety and differences among living organisms including terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems. It represents all life including genetic variation within species, the variety of species and habitat types. Climate change, today a reality, is because of rise in population, consumption levels, burning of fossil fuels for industrialization, and inefficient use of resources. As a result, over the last century, a great deal of damage has been done to the biodiversity through destruction of habitats resulting in imbalance of species composition. Changing temperature due to climate change influences the species to shift towards pole, their reproductive cycles, their growth patterns and the interaction between them. Population of tigers in India has plummeted from 5000 to 1300 in last decade – a case of threatened species today. Hence climate change and the biodiversity loss are connected closely. Biodiversity management is an important means for helping slow down climate change and its impacts.
Conservation strategies for biodiversity are needed for supporting the species’ natural capacity to adapt to change. Biodiversity management measures should constitute active protection and management of existing habitats, increasing the size of existing habitats and creating new habitats, and increasing the connectivity of habitats by creating ecological network and connecting wildlife territories.

Surya N Lenka