Biological Diversity.gmlsmit wrote:IUCN Definitions
Protected Areas
The IUCN`s recommendation for the minimum requirement for a country to protect its biodiversity is that 10% of its area should be legally proclaimed protected areas. These are national parks and nature reserves which are precluded from any modification by man.
Ecologists and conservation planners constantly monitor these areas to ensure that they remain in as natural a state as possible. Scientists are constantly investigating the range and status of all componants of the natural world and from these studies making recommendations for special areas to be protected from development through a legal procclamation. These are areas that are either natural and unmodified, or areas that can be restored to a natural state.
The definition of a protected area is "A clearly defined geographical space, recognised, dedicated and managed, through legal or other effective means, to achieve the long-term conservation of nature with associated ecosystem services and cultural values".
Although all protected areas meet the general purposes contained in this definition, in practice the precise purposes for which protected areas are managed differ greatly throughout the world.
IUCN has defined a series of six protected area management categories, based on primary management objective.
In summary, these are:
CATEGORY Ia:
Strict Nature Reserve: protected area managed mainly for science.
Definition: Area of land and/or sea possessing some outstanding or representative ecosystems, geological or physiological features and/or species, available primarily for scientific research and/or environmental monitoring.
CATEGORY Ib:
Wilderness Area: protected area managed mainly for wilderness protection.
Definition: Large area of unmodified or slightly modified land, and/or sea, retaining its natural character and influence, without permanent or significant habitation, which is protected and managed so as to preserve its natural condition.
CATEGORY II:
National Park: protected area managed mainly for ecosystem protection and recreation.
Definition: Natural area of land and/or sea, designated to (a) protect the ecological integrity of one or more ecosystems for present and future generations, (b) exclude exploitation or occupation inimical to the purposes of designation of the area and (c) provide a foundation for spiritual, scientific, educational, recreational and visitor opportunities, all of which must be environmentally and culturally compatible.
(The KNP is a Category II National park.)
Category III:
Natural Monument: protected area managed mainly for conservation of specific natural features.
Definition: Area containing one, or more, specific natural or natural/cultural feature which is of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative or aesthetic qualities or cultural significance.
CATEGORY IV:
Habitat/Species Management Area: protected area managed mainly for conservation through management intervention.
Definition: Area of land and/or sea subject to active intervention for management purposes so as to ensure the maintenance of habitats and/or to meet the requirements of specific species.
CATEGORY V:
Protected Landscape/Seascape: protected area managed mainly for landscape/seascape conservation and recreation.
Definition: Area of land, with coast and sea as appropriate, where the interaction of people and nature over time has produced an area of distinct character with significant aesthetic, ecological and/or cultural value, and often with high biological diversity. Safeguarding the integrity of this traditional interaction is vital to the protection, maintenance and evolution of such an area.
CATEGORY VI:
Managed Resource Protected Area: protected area managed mainly for the sustainable use of natural ecosystems.
Definition: Area containing predominantly unmodified natural systems, managed to ensure long term protection and maintenance of biological diversity, while providing at the same time a sustainable flow of natural products and services to meet community needs.
SWOT.
Playing to Win!
Faced with the dilemma of threats to our modern world, what should we do?
There is a favourite game of team builders and conveners of conferences and synposia. The SWOT analysis! Faced with a problem, what is the best solution? We have to look at the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats that face us and plot a course forward that maximises the strengths and opportunities and minimises the weaknesses and threats.
So we gather in our little groups and start to list what we think should be under each heading. If we were to do this on a worldwide basis, the lists would probably be exceedingly long, but the results, if we could compute them, might give us pause for thought.
Here are a few of mine. Our strengths are that we are clever and innovative. As the dominant species on the planet we can access all the resources and energy. We are capable of cooperation for the greater good. We are adaptive.
Our weaknesses include greed and we are hardwired to be competitive. We are fecund and with few limiting factors have overpopulated the planet. We are antaganistic and warlike.
What opportunities are there to turn things around. We do have time though this is running out! We have energy and technical know how. A large proportion of the population have instant access to information via instruments like the internet. There are still enough natural resources, if wisely used, to make a difference.
The list of threats in most groups will probably be the longest.
1. Over population would probably head most lists.
2. Diminished resources and over utilization of these resources.
3. Climate change caused by global warming. The jury is still out on this, but the body of evidence that our climate is changing for the worst, as far as human beings are concerned, is growing.
4. Religion as a threat will be seen as controversial. However, the type of antagonism seen between religious factions at the present time could precipitate actions that prevent us from using our strengths and opportunities.
There are all sorts of other threats which are beyond our power to counter.
Under the banner of 'acts of God', Discovery and National Geographic channels frighten us with asteroid strikes, super volcanos and returning ice ages. Those are just red herrings. We need to focus on the things we have some control over!
The question is, do we have the strength of character to use our strengths to seize the opportunities and ensure our future, or will we crash and burn like the dinosaurs?
Have Your Say!
Developments inevertably impact on a wide range of people and modern democracy recognises the right of these people to voice their opionion on these impacts. This is called public participation and the individuals and groups concerned are referred to as interested and effected parties.
Once a development is proposed, the developer must publish in the media, the details and scope of the project and allow a specified period of time for people to respond either for or against it. Public meetings are called at which these views can be expressed and responded to by the developer.
There is a whole raft of regulations in the EIA legislation that apply to both the developer and any individual or group that believe they have some vested interest in the proposed development.
For objections and comments to have force, the individuals and groups must be registered as interested and effected parties. This ensures that all opinions are considered when the final decision is taken on whether the development will proceed and on what basis.
Development often seems an unstoppable force. Backed by huge financial resources, sometimes the best environmental laws are powerless to control it.
A word we use a great deal, but what does it actually mean?
Biological diversity - or "biodiversity" - is the number and variety of living organisms on earth, the millions of plants, animals, and microorganisms, the genes they contain, the evolutionary history and potential they encompass, and the ecosystems, ecological processes, and landscapes of which they are integral parts. Biodiversity thus refers to the life-support systems and natural resources upon which we depend.
There are three main components of biodiversity:
Genetic diversity
Genes are the biochemical packages that are passed on by parents to their offspring, and which determine the physical and biochemical characteristics of offspring. Genetic diversity refers to the variation of genes within species, making it possible to develop new breeds of crop plants and domestic animals, and allowing species in the wild to adapt to changing conditions.
Species diversity
A species is a group of plants, animals, microorganisms, or other living organisms that are morphologically similar; that share inheritance from common ancestry; or whose genes are so similar that they can breed together and produce fertile offspring. Usually different species look different.
Species diversity refers to the variety and abundance of species within a geographic area. Often the term "species richness" is used as a measure of species diversity, but this refers only to the number of species within a region, and thus technically only one component of diversity.
Ecosystem diversity
An ecosystem consists of communities of plants, animals and microorganisms, and the soil, water, and air on which they depend.
These all interact in a complex way, contributing to processes on which all life depends such as the water cycle, energy flow, the provision of oxygen, soil formation and nutrient cycling. Ecosystem diversity can refer to the variety of ecosystems found within a certain political or geographical boundary, or to the variety of species within different ecosystems.
Another level of diversity which is sometimes included in the definition of biodiversity is Landscape Diversity.
A landscape is a collection of elements which consists of defined assemblages of plants, animals, abiotic substrata such as rocks, land-use patterns, as well as cultural or scenic features and socio-economic and political dynamics. For example, wetlands, fragments of forest, mountains, or rocky shores may comprise landscapes, as may the presence of croplands or religious structures.
The boundary of a landscape will vary according to the scale being used and the purpose of the investigation. Landscape diversity refers to the number of landscapes in the geographical area being studied.
One of the important responsibilities of a conservation agency is conservation planning.
The scientists that fulfill this role are the watchdogs of biodiversity, constantly proclaiming protected areas or enhancing their legal status, identifying components of an ecosystem that will be affected by change and looking for compromises when change is inevitable.
Recent issues of the E-News have highlighted the impact on the Earth`s biodiversity that the growing population of humans is having.
The majority of people want to live like first world inhabitants. Big house, two cars and every conceivable electronic gadget. To do this, more and more of the Earth`s resources and landscapes have to be utilized. This is where the conservation planning scientists come in, though it is a bit like the little Dutch boy with his finger in the hole in the dyke.
The pressure on the biosphere is enormous and growing.
We have already exceeded the Earth`s capacity to renew its resources and this while the majority of the worlds human inhabitants are living a subsistance existence.
What the majority fail to grasp is that we are totally dependant on all the componants of the thin envelope of elements and life that encloses this planet. If something goes wrong and this biosphere stops working in a healthy and sustainable way, there will be another great extinction event and we will go the way of the dinosaurs!
World Heritage site.
For The Benefit of Mankind
In the endless tussle between keeping it natural or modifying it for man`s use, the ultimate tool in the protection of biodiversity is legal proclomation. Of course there are many levels of protection from international to national, right down to local government, where a municipality could proclaim its town lands.
As in all laws in this heirachy of legal status, the lesser always bends to the greater. From a conservation point of view, the highest status is World Heritage Status.
A World Heritage Site is a cultural or natural site, monument, city or geographical habitat that is deemed irreplaceable and threatened, and thus deserving of protection and preservation by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). UNESCO believes that many cultural and natural sites provide immeasurable benefits to mankind and should be protected and maintained at all costs.
These precious features, either man-made or naturally occurring, face the threats of aging, modernization, globalization or the ravages of man, through industrialization or war.
Quotes by GMLSMIT on SPF[/quote]