Biodiversity-rich Areas Research Articles

Can conservation and development interventions in the Indian Central Himalaya ensure environmental sustainability? A socioecological evaluation

In biodiversity-rich areas, both conservation and socioeconomic development are at the core of discussions among various stakeholders, such as local people, policymakers, conservationists, resource management professionals, economists, researchers/scientists, and so forth. Various innovations are being provided that aim at promoting both improved livelihood for the people and the conservation and management of natural resources in the Central Himalaya of India. Many studies point out the factors responsible for the tremendous decline of natural resources and also how they have affected the local people’s livelihood options. In this context, the current study was undertaken to evaluate the potential of various solutions/innovations that are being implemented in the Himalayas of India. Unfortunately, only a few are found to be successful in both conservation and sustainable livelihood development. This study reveals that people are still looking for more viable solutions that could help them improve their lifestyle, as well as facilitating ecosystem conservation and supporting existing biodiversity. Based on the present study, it is argued that an in-depth empirical study of any region is a necessary process prior to offering solutions to achieve the desired goals, as considered by development agencies and policy-planners.

Importance of in vitro technology to future conservation programmes worldwide

The latest IUCN statistics show that of over 12,000 plant species, 70% are threatened, 19% are critically endangered and 28 species are extinct in the wild. Target 8 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) highlights the importance of ex situ conservation of critically endangered plants. Long-term germplasm storage for species with recalcitrant seeds needs alternative measures. In vitro methods complement seed banking and other ex situ measures and are vital for long-term conservation. Conservation Biotechnology at RBG Kew is currently working on a number of rare and threatened recalcitrant species from biodiversity-rich areas of the world to develop good quality in vitro propagules for cryopreservation, recovery and restoration projects. The importance of successful in vitro propagation methods, transplantation technologies, cryopreservation and international networking for the integrated conservation of these species are discussed in detail.

Do community-conserved areas effectively conserve biological diversity? Global insights and the Indian context

The view that biodiversity-rich areas partially or largely managed by local residents, sometimes referred to as community-conserved areas (CCAs), can be effective in biological conservation has gained considerable ground over the past decade. In this paper, we review available scientific information on the conservation effectiveness of such areas globally. We compiled studies undertaken during the last 5 years (2004–2009) that use quantifiable ecological attributes to: (1) compare CCAs with strictly protected areas (SPAs); (2) compare CCAs with open-access ecosystems and (3) study trends in biological attributes of CCAs over time. We found that there were few consistent differences in diversity/species richness of flora or fauna protected under the two types of management or in deforestation rates. However, CCAs tend to harbour a species complement distinct from that of SPAs and show lowered abundances of monitored taxa that are of conservation importance. CCAs conserve biological values more effectively than open-access areas. Also, biological values tend to decline in CCAs over time. We conclude that CCAs could represent a significant improvement over open-access areas in terms of conservation effectiveness, yet fall short of the needs of comprehensive biological conservation. While extremely few studies have been undertaken in India, the trends seen largely concur with global ones. This review, based on a limited sample size, is only a beginning, and is expected to serve as an invitation for further research to address both the question of biological effectiveness of diverse forest governance regimes as well as the socio-economic, demographic and institutional reasons underlying these differences.

High resolution satellite imagery for tropical biodiversity studies: the devil is in the detail

While high resolution satellite remote sensing has been hailed as a very useful source of data for biodiversity assessment and monitoring, applications have been more developed in temperate areas. The biodiverse tropics offer a challenge of an altogether different magnitude for hyperspatial and hyperspectral remote sensing. This paper examines issues related to hyperspatial and hyperspectral remotely sensed imagery, which constitutes one of the most potentially powerful yet underutilized sources of for tropical research on biodiversity. Hyperspatial data with their increased pixel resolution are possibly best suited at facilitating the accurate location of features such as tree canopies, but less suited to the identification of aspects such as species identity, particularly when spatial resolution becomes too fine and pixels are smaller than the size of the object (e.g., tree canopy) being identified. Hyperspectral data on the other hand, with their high spectral resolution, can be used to record information pertaining to a range of critical plant properties related to species identity, and can be very effective used for discriminating tree species in tropical forests, despite the greater complexity of such environments. There remains a glaring gap in the easy availability of hyperspectral and hyperspatial satellite data in the tropics due to reasons of cost, data coverage, and security restrictions. Stimulating discussion on the applications of this powerful, but underutilized tool by ecologists, is the first step in promoting a more extensive use of such data for ecological studies in tropical biodiversity rich areas.

Community-based Monitoring of Natural Resource Use and Forest Quality in Montane Forests and Miombo Woodlands of Tanzania

A community-based monitoring system that focuses on natural resource use and forest quality in montane evergreen forest and miombo woodland areas was developed and implemented in 23 villages in 2002 as part of a participatory forest management regime in Iringa District, Tanzania. The scheme was developed to suit the needs and capacities of locally-elected natural resource committees managing and monitoring natural forests. Rather than measuring biodiversity, the monitoring is focused on resource extraction and disturbance. High levels of commitment to the monitoring were displayed by village level managers, and the preliminary feed-back indicates that the monitoring scheme provides them with the relevant information needed to suggest appropriate management interventions. While external support has been essential to cover development costs, natural resource revenue generated at village level can provide most of the running costs. Once developed, the scheme can, however, be transferred to similar areas at significantly lower costs that can be met by Tanzanian District budgets. Natural resource revenue generated from montane forests is generally much lower than in woodland areas due to restrictions on resource extraction imposed as a consequence of national and international interests. Opportunities to provide economic incentives for montane forest managers through direct utilisation of the resource are limited and it remains to be seen whether other non-economic incentives can sustain long term commitment in these biodiversity rich areas. Findings indicate that the key elements of this local resource utilisation monitoring scheme are simplicity, incentive mechanisms, transparency and accountability, and autonomy for local managers. However, the methods may not provide sufficient data on changes in biodiversity values in the high value forests and may need to be augmented by conventional monitoring by scientists funded by national or international institutions. Elements of the scheme are now being institutionalised within the forestry sector in Tanzania.