India has a rich heritage of wildlife as well as a long history and tradition of conservation. The conservation ethic was imbibed in the sylvan surroundings of the ashramas of our sages which were the seats of learning in the country’s ancient past. The first recorded game laws were promulgated by Kautilya in his Arthashastra in the third century BC. Indian mythology is equally profuse in references to our regard and love for wild animals. Different animals were associated with different Gods and were thus provided with religious sanctity and ensured conservation. India is also unique in the richness and variety of its wildlife. Though the love and regard for wildlife is a part of India’s culture, yet it is confronted with the sad paradox of fast disappearing wildlife.
To an average citizen, it is difficult to understand why wildlife conservation is important. What relevance does it have in the present context in a poor and developing country like India, when the crying need is for pooling all the country’s resources for rapid economic development to mitigate the poverty of the masses?
The concern for wildlife is, however, the concern for man itself. All forms of life – human, animal & plant, are so closely inter-linked that disturbance in one gives rise to imbalance in the others. Man’s activities for development may have profound influence on the biosphere. Man has harnessed the environment to meet his diverse requirements, which nevertheless, should be done without disturbing the laws of nature. The human race can survive only by living in harmony with nature and explore it for optimum use. Man’s interference with nature without regard for the ecological aspects may lead to catastrophes eg. Pollution, floods, droughts, silting of river beds and dams, industrial pollution, water pollution, agricultural chemicals and pesticide residues, acid rain, depletion of the ozone layer etc.
Ecologists consider all organic life on earth to be organized as a series of energy transfers called trophic levels in a closed system of living and non-living parts which they call the ecosystem. The series of energy transfers is depicted below:-
Primary producers (Autotrophs) : plants which convert chemicals into organic matter with
The concern for wildlife is, however, the concern for man itself. All forms of life – human, animal & plant, are so closely inter-linked that disturbance in one gives rise to imbalance in the others. Man’s activities for development may have profound influence on the biosphere. Man has harnessed the environment to meet his diverse requirements, which nevertheless, should be done without disturbing the laws of nature. The human race can survive only by living in harmony with nature and explore it for optimum use. Man’s interference with nature without regard for the ecological aspects may lead to catastrophes eg. Pollution, floods, droughts, silting of river beds and dams, industrial pollution, water pollution, agricultural chemicals and pesticide residues, acid rain, depletion of the ozone layer etc.
Ecologists consider all organic life on earth to be organized as a series of energy transfers called trophic levels in a closed system of living and non-living parts which they call the ecosystem. The series of energy transfers is depicted below:-
Primary producers (Autotrophs) : plants which convert chemicals into organic matter with
solar energy
Primary consumers (herbivores)
Secondary consumers (carnivores)
Decomposers
The food chain is represented by a pyramid :
The producers, consumers and decomposers are linked together in food chains. Various food chains are joined at different trophic levels forming complicated food webs. In this intricate web of relationships, the existence of one organism is dependent on the others. The process of natural selection has led to species specializing in the performance of certain functions in the food chains. These are the ‘niches’ which the organisms occupy. The entire trophic structure is delicately balanced on these niches.
Any process of development by human societies with varying levels of their technology in harvesting natural resources is an intervention in nature and its life support systems. To be sustainable, any development requires that the renewability of the resources and life support systems is maintained in perpetuity. This, in turn, needs an understanding of the ability of species to adapt themselves to changing environment and to integrate these considerations in the development planning process. This, in essence, is the crux of the case for wildlife conservation.
Primary consumers (herbivores)
Secondary consumers (carnivores)
Decomposers
The food chain is represented by a pyramid :
The producers, consumers and decomposers are linked together in food chains. Various food chains are joined at different trophic levels forming complicated food webs. In this intricate web of relationships, the existence of one organism is dependent on the others. The process of natural selection has led to species specializing in the performance of certain functions in the food chains. These are the ‘niches’ which the organisms occupy. The entire trophic structure is delicately balanced on these niches.
Any process of development by human societies with varying levels of their technology in harvesting natural resources is an intervention in nature and its life support systems. To be sustainable, any development requires that the renewability of the resources and life support systems is maintained in perpetuity. This, in turn, needs an understanding of the ability of species to adapt themselves to changing environment and to integrate these considerations in the development planning process. This, in essence, is the crux of the case for wildlife conservation.
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