Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant Memorial Lecture: II

strengthened. If these are threatened, biodiversity is ipso facto threatened. This
aspect already has been discussed by the author in detail (Khoshoo, 1991).
Conservation of biota involves essentially long-range management. It is indeed a
holistic concept and encompasses whole spectrum of activities from in situ
conservation dealing with population, communities and ecosystems on the one
hand, an don the other it deals with ex situ involving botanical gardens, arborea,
zoos and zoological gardens, and biological banks for storing pollen, seed, sperm,
egg, embryo, tissue, organ and genes. Fig. 9 summarizes different options available
for conservation.
Fig. 9: Options for conservation of biodiversity source: Khoshoo, 1992.
A distinction has to be made between in situ and ex situ conservation. In situ
conservation is indeed long-term management and with it is implicit that both
ecological processes and organic evolution go on unhindered. Under ex situ
conservation such processes are cut short. Obviously, ex situ does not have the
benefit of continued organic evolution.
A situation intermediate between in situ and ex situ occurs in wild lands in man
made wilderness areas, or when such lands are converted for purposes of
preserving/conserving biodiversity or genetic diversity. It is clear that right from
acclimatization, biota in such habitats would face natural and / or human selection.
This is not identical to what exists in their original habitats.
In Situ Conservation
As indicated earlier, in situ conservation aims at conserving biota in their natural
habitats on a holistic basis more as a system than as separate individuals. The aim
is to conserve an integrated system (ecosystem) of plants, animals and
microorganisms with its particular atmosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere. Under
such conditions, there are opportunities for mutualism, co-adaptation and coevolution
together with processes like mutation, recombination and natural selection,
which work unfettered leading to the survival of the fittest (fig. 8). Ideally, the
interacting system, called the ecosystem, has to be auto-sustainable and selfregenerating.
There has to be no human-made perturbations unless warranted on
scientific and technological grounds.
Conservation of Watersheds: The first and the foremost under in situ category
are the watersheds. These are not only rich in biodiversity but with these are
intertwined with our long-range ecological security, and perpetuity of our glaciers
and river systems. Thus first and foremost, all the watersheds of not only the main
river systems Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra, but all their tributaries together with
their glaciers have to be conserved.
Protected Area Network: Already there are a number of recognized protected
areas –biosphere reserves, national parks, wildlife sanctuaries. Some are already in
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