ZSI red flags four fish species, two turtle species and 12 reptiles for conservation
ALWAR (RAJASTHAN): Talks of global climate change are no longer confined to scientific studies and research papers as none other than the Zoological Survey of India has expressed concern over the increasing pace of losing species during the last century. Director ZSI, Dr Dhriti Banerjee said that during the past 20 years around one fifth of the species in an earmarked geographical area have vanished. She was answering queries of journalists at a symposium organised by the Centre for science and environment in Alwar on Thursday. “Though I am not going to use the term extinction, as it involves several official processes, there is no doubt that the level of loss of species in the last 100 years is very evident. When I started my career and had sampled species at a place in Arunanchal Pradesh in 1998; and when I visit the same place today, I find that at least one fifth of the species are missing,” she said. Banerjee however pointed out that around 900 species have gone extinct since 1500AD and they are part of evolutionary history. “What concerns us most is the rate at which we are losing them and that the trigger is man made and not natural,” she said. The primary drivers for triggering the next (6th) mass extinction drive are identified as environmental changes, deforestation, climate change, ocean acidification, hunting and pollution of the ecosystem. The ZSI has recently red flagged four to five fish species, two turtle species and a dozen reptile species as endangered and in need of conservation. The ZSI director said that slow and reverse deforestation, allowing ecosystems to heal and most importantly protecting biodiversity is key to prevent or delay the mass extinction. Corroborating her views , chairperson of National Biodiversity Authority VB Mathur said that it was because of all activities centered around homo sapiens, (just one species) that the balance of nature was being disrupted. “out of several lakh plant and animal species identified globally just 12 crops and five animal species provide 75% of world food security, resulting in their over production and dominance,” he said. Describing the Biological Diversity Act of 2002 as a tool to protect biodiversity he said that community participation was key to its success and because of that the concept of Peoples Biodiversity Register was introduced,” he said underlining the need for capacity building of panchayat level Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs). Richard Mahapatra of CSE said that humans are not only the reason for extinction of other species, but also decide which one will survive and thrive. “Of total mammals 60% are livestock, 36% are pigs and just 4% are wild. Similarly of total birds 70% are poultry chickens and other farmed birds,” he said. ZSI director also admitted that the ‘humanloving’ species are thriving and if there is a loss of a few species, there are also instances of an overgrowing population of some others. “I have noticed some insects vanishing and the same area being dominated by some other insect species that we consider as humanloving,” she said.