CONSERVATION OF

BIODIVERSITY

Learning Outcomes…..

Candidates should be able to :describe the various measures taken to conserve the different levels of biodiversity including in situ and ex situ conservation in Malaysia.

1. Conversation is used to describe the wise management of natural resources, including the preservation of habitat and wildlife.

2. The aim of conservation is to restore degraded ecosystems and sustain biodiversity.

What is CONSERVATION of BIODIVERSITY ???

CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY

The conservation of biodiversity includes two main aspects :

a) restoration – refers to the human efforts to increase the number of individual species of organisms facing extinction/ endangered so that the population can revert to its normal size and able to maintain the biological equilibrium in its natural environment.

b) sustainable – refers to human efforts to sustain the species of organisms endangered or on the brink of extinction by taking steps to ensure that the population and its livelihood is not disturbed.

The objectives of carrying out biological conservation programs include :

a) to sustain a natural resource invaluable to the social and economical benefits to man,

b) to maintain a stable ecological system so that the quality of environment is preserved,

c) to prepare a gene bank and a resource of genetic data available for scientific researches; in order for species of agricultural plants and farm animals of higher quality could be discovered and introduced,

d) to maintain a natural resource (by the total number and quality) for the use of man in the future.

CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY (cont.)

The implication of losing biodiversity can be summarized as follows :

a) forest destruction would cause the lost of water catchment's areas,

b) disturbed ecological equilibrium would reduce the quality of environmental conditions due to acid rain, green house effect, flood and land slides,

c) the lost of biological resource especially in the form of genetic data/ information.

If a certain species became extinct, it cannot be recreated and it means that the next generation would receive a reduced natural resource.

CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY (cont.)

Causes for the extinction of species include :

a) the felling of trees in the absence of sustainable

concept for agriculture, aquaculture and development of new townships,

b) forest exploitation in the logging industry,

c) uncontrolled hunting activities,

d) water pollution due to the dumping of toxic wastes from factories and oil spills,

e) exploitation in tourism industry, and

f) exploitation in leather-based goods industry.

CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY (cont.)

• In situ conservation is on-site conservation or the conservation of genetic resources in natural populations of plant or animal species, such as forest genectic resources in natural populations of tree species.

• In Malaysia, parks and reserves are reestablished to protect and preserve threatened or endangered species in as natural an environment as possible.

In Situ ConversatioNAccording to the Convention of

Biological Diversity (CBD), in situ conservation is defined as "the conservation of ecosystems and natural habitats and the maintenance and recovery of viable populations of species in their natural surroundings and, in the case of domesticated or cultivated species, in the surroundings where they have developed their distinctive properties".

Examples of reserve national parks in Malaysia :

a. Endau-Rompin National Park, gazette 1993

b. Bako National Park, gazette 1957

EX SITU CONSERVATIONAccording to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in situ conservation is defined as “the conservation of components of biological diversity outside their natural habitats”.

• Ex situ conservation involves conserving biological biodiversity in human controlled settings.

• Ex situ conservation is usually used as a last resort, when a population has become endangered.

a. breeding of captive species in zoos, aquaria, botanical gardens and etc.

b. seed storage of genetically diverse plant crops in seed banks and etc.

In Malaysia, ex situ conservation activities include :

Scientific techniques used in ex situ conservation :• Artificial insemination, by collecting sperms from the

male of a rare species and impregnate one or more female.

• Embryo transfer to surrogate mothers, by creating test-tube babies of rare species and then implant them into surrogate mothers. (Sometimes these mothers can be of different though closely related species.)

Examples of ex situ conservation centres in Malaysia :

a. Zoo

b. Botanical Garden

THANK YOU…^^