Professional Documents
Culture Documents
preservation of biological diversity is often in conflict with actual and perceived human needs
what is sustainable development ? - economic development to satisfy present and future needs while minimizing impacts on biodiversity
the concept is often misused by corporations, governments etc.
present
...dealing successfully with environmental problems will require the achievement of zero population growth...
present human population 6 billion people 95% of the earths surface is occupied by human settlements or ecosystems managed for food and materials production natural ecosystems are under increasing pressure - fragmentation, species extinction, loss of global genetic diversity cannot feed the projected human population by simply increasing the area used for food production the enormity of the crisis has stimulated efforts to conserve biodiversity and use resources sustainably
Corn: 1970 failure of corn crops from corn leaf blight occurred because 70% of USA corn was developed using a single genetic source susceptible to the pathogen ( ie. lack of genetic variability) genetic uniformity is recognized as dangerous because of inability to respond to biotic and abiotic environmental pressures
agricultural genetic diversity in preindustrialized societies is high eg. indigenous cultivars of maize from Mexico vary in time to maturity from 60 days to 16 months height from 40 to 700cm ear lengths range from 4 to 40cm loss of diversity is associated with modern agricultural methods
genetic conservation of important agricultural crops began early in the 20th century
loss of primitive varieties of crop species -landraces -- meant loss of genetic variation essential for sustained crop improvement systematic collection of seeds of indigenous crop varieties
varieties of wheat
germplasm (= the DNA = mostly seeds) in these collections represent over 3,600,000 genetically distinct samples from about 100 crop species and their wild relatives seed in these seed-banks held at -88C and periodically propagated to preserve viability these ex situ collections are essentially the only genetic resource used for crop improvements
Primack 1998 Ch 14
crop species show high genetic diversity in certain areas of the world
locations of in situ crop diversity and wild crop relatives conservation projects
Morocco
alfalfa, bean & barley farming system
oasis area
Rif Mountains
priority crops
Burkina Faso
target crops sorghum Sorgum bicolor
Nepal
Hungary
project to re-introduce local varieties into farming systems quantify effects of restoring agrobiodiversity on agroecosystem functions, genetic diversity and economic development
crop wild relatives are found naturally in agroecosystems near farms, but increasingly threatened
many are found in centres of plant diversity and crop diversity in developing countries these farmers and countries lack resources to invest in the necessary conservation strategies global strategies to link these countries to International conservation agencies eg. UN FAO, IUCN current project involves countries like Armenia, Bolivia, Madagascar, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan - all centres of crop diversity
passage and enforcement of conservation-related laws at a local level can be highly emotional public must be made to look beyond the immediate benefits of development eg. protection of water supplies may mean no development -no grazing, logging or housing - in water catchments the arguments of conservation may be misused by people to prevent development near them - not in my backyard
one of the most powerful means to protect biological diversity is to set aside intact biological communities as nature reserves, National Parks etc. - a means of in situ conservation Park Managers throughout the world cite conflicts with local people as their most serious problem in the developing world local people typically obtain many or all their resources from their immediate environment
common to disregard the traditional rights of local people in establishing new conservation areas - ecocolonialism
recognized as critical for maintaining fish populations extensive refuges for fish; fishing is permitted along less than 40% of the river margin
Biological Diversity and Cultural Diversity strong association between cultural diversity and the occurrence of high biological diversity
the development of landraces is often a response to human selection for desired traits they are adapted to local soils, climates and tastes eg. the Nuba mountains of Sudan host 62 distinct human language groups, and grow dozens of landraces of sesame which are identified with particular tribes and places
protection of traditional cultures within their traditional areas provides a dual opportunity for cultural as well as biological diversity conservation
the rigid separation of lands used by local people and lands set aside for conservation is neither possible nor necessarily desirable
Biosphere Reserves allow people to use resources with constraints eg. harvesting of meat from big game in African Nature Reserves these Integrated ConservationDevelopment Projects are increasingly seen as one of the best conservation strategies