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BIODIVERSITY– UNEP defines it as the totality of genes, species and ecosystems in a region. It means three things – Genetic biodiversity; Species Biodiversity; Ecosystem Biodiversity (variations in the features and abundance of habitats). There are two basic approaches of biodiversity conservation – In situ and ex-situ approaches.
BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS – These are the regions that have both high endemic species variety and high threat to the species due to habitat loss as a result of anthropogenic activities. This concept was given by British biologist Norman Mayers in 1998. It is generally a species rich area which has faced 70% habitat depletion. India has 3 such hotspots out of around 34 global hotspots – Himalayas, Northeast as a part of Indo-Burman hotspot and Western Ghats. They reflect a need to start an aggressive conservation and biodiversity promotion in such areas. Abrupt rise of Himalayas results in high biodiversity variations.
