Villagers being roped in to conserve biodiversity

Ambika Sharma

Solan, February 8

In a bid to rope in villagers for the conservation of endangered species of plants and animals, the Department of Environment Science and Technology (DEST) has started enrolling them at the gram panchayat-level biodiversity committees.

Managing resources

People’s Biodiversity Registers (PBRs) have been created in the gram panchayats to document folk knowledge of biodiversity resources besides people’s perceptions of how these resources should be managed. Lalit Jain, Director, Dept of Environment Science & Technology

DEST Director Lalit Jain says, “People’s Biodiversity Registers (PBRs) have been created in the gram panchayats to document folk knowledge of biodiversity resources besides people’s perceptions of how these resources should be managed.”

“Residents having knowledge of the flora and fauna are enlisted as the members of the biodiversity management committees at the gram panchayat level. They are supposed to share information about the drastic changes in the local flora and fauna. An effort is being made to conserve the plants and animals using local knowledge,” he adds.

In 2009, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of India had identified as many as 57 species of medicinal plants in the state that are on the verge of extinction. The ministry had also identified eight species of other plants and 10 of animal species which are on the verge of extinction.

The state Biodiversity Board has banned their collection in live or dead condition, except for select purposes like scientific research and propagation, etc., after seeking the approval.

“In 2013, the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2013 declared as many as 19 animal species as near threatened while seven others as endangered. Apart from this, 10 have been declared vulnerable and three others critically endangered in the state,” Jain says.

Among the near-threatened wildlife species are oriental darter, painted stork and ferruginous duck. White-rumped vulture, slender-billed vulture and red-headed vulture are critically endangered species.

Asian woollyneck, greater spotted eagle, eastern imperial eagle, western tragopan, cheer pheasant, sarus crane, wood snipe, Asian small-clawed otter, Asiatic black beer and sambar have been identified as vulnerable species.

Notably, western tragopan is also categorised as the state bird, while the HP wildlife wing has been executing breeding programmes for the cheer pheasant.

“Loss of habitat, pollution, disturbance in the habitat, hunting of adults, collection of eggs, wetland drainage, degradation and destruction of well-vegetated shallow pools and other wetland habitats, and reduced food availability have been identified as some of the causes. The destruction of the breeding habitat has also hit their survival, among other reasons,” Jain says. Changes in livestock-rearing practices and collisions with power lines and wind turbines have also hit their survival.

Meanwhile, diclofenac poisoning has emerged as the key cause of several species of vultures — bearded, Egyptian, cinereous, white-rumped and slender-billed and red-headed as well as Himalayan griffon — facing threat to their lives.