● Faced with the conflict between `color{violet}("development")` and `color{violet}("conservation,")` many nations find it `color{violet}("unrealistic")` and `color{violet}("economically")` not feasible to conserve all their `color{violet}("biological wealth.")`
● Invariably, the number of species waiting to be saved from extinction far exceeds the `color{violet}("conservation resources")`
available.
● On a global basis, this problem has been addressed by `color{violet}("eminent conservationists.")`
● They identified for maximum protection certain `color{brown}("‘biodiversity hotspots’")` regions with very high levels of species richness and high degree of `color{violet}("endemism")` (that is, species confined to that region and not found anywhere else).
● Initially `color{violet}("25 biodiversity hotspots")` were identified but subsequently nine more have been added to the list, bringing the total number of `color{violet}("biodiversity hotspots")` in the world to 34.
● These `color{violet}("hotspots")` are also regions of `color{violet}("accelerated habitat loss.")`
● Three of these hotspots – `color{violet}("Western Ghats")` and `color{violet}("Sri Lanka, Indo-Burma")` and `color{violet}("Himalaya")` – cover our country’s exceptionally high biodiversity regions.
● Although all the `color{violet}("biodiversity hotspots")` put together cover less than `color{violet}("2 %)` of the earth’s land area, the number of species they `color{violet}("collectively harbour")` is extremely high and strict protection of these hotspots could
reduce the ongoing `color{violet}("mass extinctions")` by almost `color{violet}(30 %)`
● In India, `color{violet}("ecologically unique")` and `color{violet}("biodiversity-rich regions")` are legally protected as biosphere reserves, `color{violet}("national parks")` and `color{violet}("sanctuaries.")`
● India now has 14 `color{brown}("biosphere reserves")`, 90 `color{brown}("national parks")` and 448 `color{brown}("wildlife sanctuaries.")`
● India has also a `color{violet}("history of religious and cultural traditions")` that `color{violet}("emphasised protection")` of nature.
● In many `color{violet}("cultures, tracts of forest")` were set aside, and all the `color{violet}("trees")` and `color{violet}("wildlife")` within were venerated and given total protection.
● Such `color{brown}("sacred groves")` are found in `color{violet}("Khasi")` and `color{violet}("Jaintia Hills")` in Meghalaya, `color{violet}("Aravalli Hills")` of Rajasthan, `color{violet}("Western Ghat")` regions of Karnataka and Maharashtra and the `color{violet}("Sarguja, Chanda")` and `color{violet}("Bastar")` areas of Madhya Pradesh.
● In Meghalaya, the sacred groves are the `color{violet}("last refuges")` for a large number of `color{violet}("rare")` and `color{violet}("threatened plants.")`
● Faced with the conflict between `color{violet}("development")` and `color{violet}("conservation,")` many nations find it `color{violet}("unrealistic")` and `color{violet}("economically")` not feasible to conserve all their `color{violet}("biological wealth.")`
● Invariably, the number of species waiting to be saved from extinction far exceeds the `color{violet}("conservation resources")`
available.
● On a global basis, this problem has been addressed by `color{violet}("eminent conservationists.")`
● They identified for maximum protection certain `color{brown}("‘biodiversity hotspots’")` regions with very high levels of species richness and high degree of `color{violet}("endemism")` (that is, species confined to that region and not found anywhere else).
● Initially `color{violet}("25 biodiversity hotspots")` were identified but subsequently nine more have been added to the list, bringing the total number of `color{violet}("biodiversity hotspots")` in the world to 34.
● These `color{violet}("hotspots")` are also regions of `color{violet}("accelerated habitat loss.")`
● Three of these hotspots – `color{violet}("Western Ghats")` and `color{violet}("Sri Lanka, Indo-Burma")` and `color{violet}("Himalaya")` – cover our country’s exceptionally high biodiversity regions.
● Although all the `color{violet}("biodiversity hotspots")` put together cover less than `color{violet}("2 %)` of the earth’s land area, the number of species they `color{violet}("collectively harbour")` is extremely high and strict protection of these hotspots could
reduce the ongoing `color{violet}("mass extinctions")` by almost `color{violet}(30 %)`
● In India, `color{violet}("ecologically unique")` and `color{violet}("biodiversity-rich regions")` are legally protected as biosphere reserves, `color{violet}("national parks")` and `color{violet}("sanctuaries.")`
● India now has 14 `color{brown}("biosphere reserves")`, 90 `color{brown}("national parks")` and 448 `color{brown}("wildlife sanctuaries.")`
● India has also a `color{violet}("history of religious and cultural traditions")` that `color{violet}("emphasised protection")` of nature.
● In many `color{violet}("cultures, tracts of forest")` were set aside, and all the `color{violet}("trees")` and `color{violet}("wildlife")` within were venerated and given total protection.
● Such `color{brown}("sacred groves")` are found in `color{violet}("Khasi")` and `color{violet}("Jaintia Hills")` in Meghalaya, `color{violet}("Aravalli Hills")` of Rajasthan, `color{violet}("Western Ghat")` regions of Karnataka and Maharashtra and the `color{violet}("Sarguja, Chanda")` and `color{violet}("Bastar")` areas of Madhya Pradesh.
● In Meghalaya, the sacred groves are the `color{violet}("last refuges")` for a large number of `color{violet}("rare")` and `color{violet}("threatened plants.")`