We all know our planet is limited. It means the resources it carries are limited. From the time humans came into being, they are continuously extracting minerals and other natural resources from the land to meet their needs. Human is still searching new and better reserves of resources to meet its ever growing needs and demand.
Sustainable development guide human to live their lives in such a way that the carrying capacity of this planet must be taken care of. Good health, long-term wealth and living standards improvements should be accomplished for every human without disturbing the biodiversity. Three key elements of sustainable development: economy or profit, environment or planet, social or people. All of them are interlinked and there should not be any development that make them apart from each other.
Definitions of Sustainable Development:
"Improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting ecosystems" (IUCN, UNEP, WWF)
OR
"Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" (Brundtland commission)
OR
"Taking from the earth only what it can provide indefinitely, thus leaving future generations no less than we have access to ourselves" (Friends of the Earth Scotland)
Friends of the Earth Scotland is an organization that have a vision of having a healthy environment and fairly sharing its resources among humans.
OR
"Sustainable development involves the simultaneous pursuit of economic prosperity, environmental quality and social equity. Companies aiming for sustainability need to perform not against a single, financial bottom line but against the triple bottom line" (World Business Council)
All of these definitions talk about meeting the needs of humanity in such a way that the future generations as well as current generation have access to all the resources.
Biodiversity provides human food to feed itself like fruit, vegetables, water, meat etc. It also provide shelter to human like wood, stone, clay and other materials. Biodiversity is also a key player in the economic activities taken by humans like sale and purchase of goods and services by extracting different materials from the earth. The world's giant economies have consumed almost all of their resources that is why they are investing in the developing countries to get benefited from the unused resources left there. The Britain company who came to India for trade later on captured this part of the world because it was full of gold and other minerals.
Human is the part of environment and all the activities that the human carries are because of the richness in the biodiversity. But human did not take into account the damage it has done to the biodiversity. Later on human realizes by seeing the impact that are severe to the human itself and developed the conservation strategies for the biodiversity. Biodiversity has different uses for different communities and that why there should not be only one conservation method. Different landscapes offer different uses and they should be conserved by different strategies and plans as well.
The two main types of conservation methods are:
In-Situe and Ex-Situe
These are the Latin worlds and they mean "on-site" and "off-site". To conserve the biodiversity the first and the most prior approach used is In-Situe.
In-Situe is a mechanism in which the conservation practices are carried on the place of origin. It is the natural conservation of biodiversity. Plants and animals are conserved at the place of their natural habitat. National parks like in Pakistan: Margalla Hills located at the north of Islamabad are declared as the national park. All the species of plant and animals are conserved in a natural way. No human can go their for hunting purposes or for cutting trees. No one can built houses their. Only a small ancient village at the foot of Margalla hills called "Saidpur Village" is the habitat of humans. This natural conservation. The locals of Islamabad are contributing to the conservation of this diverse national park of Pakistan. The participation of local communities is very important in this method of conserving the environment.
Ex-Situe conservation is the last resort to the conservation practices of biodiversity. Conserving the species at the new artificial environments to save them from extinction is the last option ecologists and environmentalists have. It provides a place where human can observe the different species of animals and plants. Places like zoos, botanical gardens, artificial parks, aviary parks, and dams to conserve fisheries etc are the examples of Ex-Situe. Lahore zoo is the place where public can observe animal species from so near in an artificial environment. Elephants are not present in the jungles of Pakistan but they can be seen in the zoos.
Zoos are the places where public, young scientists and students can observe animals directly. These are the public places where parents bring their children to make them interact with the species of animals or literally with the biodiversity.
Sanctuaries are the artificially made places where the animals that are near to extinction are released to conserve them. These wild places can be artificial or natural and are protected to conserve animals and plant species.
Botanic Gardens are the gardens where the research study about the plants and their different species takes place. The Jallo Botanic Garden in Lahore is one of the examples.
Seedbanks are like museums that provides seeds if they are extinct in the environment for cultivation. It help us prevent the varieties of plant species from extinction. Lead Pakistan is an NGO that works for sustainability and hold different seed banks in different areas for the biodiversity conservation.
Biodiversity provides human food to feed itself like fruit, vegetables, water, meat etc. It also provide shelter to human like wood, stone, clay and other materials. Biodiversity is also a key player in the economic activities taken by humans like sale and purchase of goods and services by extracting different materials from the earth. The world's giant economies have consumed almost all of their resources that is why they are investing in the developing countries to get benefited from the unused resources left there. The Britain company who came to India for trade later on captured this part of the world because it was full of gold and other minerals.Human is the part of environment and all the activities that the human carries are because of the richness in the biodiversity. But human did not take into account the damage it has done to the biodiversity. Later on human realizes by seeing the impact that are severe to the human itself and developed the conservation strategies for the biodiversity. Biodiversity has different uses for different communities and that why there should not be only one conservation method. Different landscapes offer different uses and they should be conserved by different strategies and plans as well.
The two main types of conservation methods are:
In-Situe and Ex-Situe
These are the Latin worlds and they mean "on-site" and "off-site". To conserve the biodiversity the first and the most prior approach used is In-Situe.
In-Situe is a mechanism in which the conservation practices are carried on the place of origin. It is the natural conservation of biodiversity. Plants and animals are conserved at the place of their natural habitat. National parks like in Pakistan: Margalla Hills located at the north of Islamabad are declared as the national park. All the species of plant and animals are conserved in a natural way. No human can go their for hunting purposes or for cutting trees. No one can built houses their. Only a small ancient village at the foot of Margalla hills called "Saidpur Village" is the habitat of humans. This natural conservation. The locals of Islamabad are contributing to the conservation of this diverse national park of Pakistan. The participation of local communities is very important in this method of conserving the environment.Ex-Situe conservation is the last resort to the conservation practices of biodiversity. Conserving the species at the new artificial environments to save them from extinction is the last option ecologists and environmentalists have. It provides a place where human can observe the different species of animals and plants. Places like zoos, botanical gardens, artificial parks, aviary parks, and dams to conserve fisheries etc are the examples of Ex-Situe. Lahore zoo is the place where public can observe animal species from so near in an artificial environment. Elephants are not present in the jungles of Pakistan but they can be seen in the zoos.
Zoos are the places where public, young scientists and students can observe animals directly. These are the public places where parents bring their children to make them interact with the species of animals or literally with the biodiversity.
Sanctuaries are the artificially made places where the animals that are near to extinction are released to conserve them. These wild places can be artificial or natural and are protected to conserve animals and plant species.Botanic Gardens are the gardens where the research study about the plants and their different species takes place. The Jallo Botanic Garden in Lahore is one of the examples.
Seedbanks are like museums that provides seeds if they are extinct in the environment for cultivation. It help us prevent the varieties of plant species from extinction. Lead Pakistan is an NGO that works for sustainability and hold different seed banks in different areas for the biodiversity conservation.
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