Biodiversity Conservation And National Development: Potentials And Challenges -By Azeez Ridwan

Following the existence of Biodiversity in conservation of the world ecosystem for ages, its operation in sustaining world environmental stability and ecological settlement in human ecosystem, and the impact it has made through measures undertake to create a world free for all, is notable and insurmountable.

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, biodiversity – also called biological diversity, is the variety of life found in a place on earth, or often – the total variety of life on earth. A common measure of this variety, called species richness; is the count of species in an area.

Candidly, it is within the armpit of scientist believe, according to Mora (2011), that there are about 13 Million species existing on Earth while the United Nations Environmental Programme estimate an approximately 52 Million species fixed to the earth and every ecosystem.

To start with, let’s take a glance through the ecosystem and certain ecological factors of Colombia and Kenya, for example – with more than 1,000 breeding species of birds. Whereas, the forests of Great Britain and of eastern North America are home to fewer than 200. A coral reef of northern Australia may have 500 species of fish, while the rocky shoreline of Japan may be home to only 100 species.

Therefore, to further expantiate this, biodiversity had given a variety of forms of life on earth, including the different plants, animals, micro-organisms, the genes they contain and the ecosystem they form. It refers to genetic variation, ecosystem variation, species variation (number of species) within an area, biome or planet.

Having established above, the conceptualization of Biodiversity and without prejudice to political trade all over the world in National development, the application of biodiversity – though more of nature than artificial for centuries – had made tremendous contribution in the advancement of National Development throughout the world.

The International Union for conservation Nature in 2012, opined that more than 60 wild species have been used to improve World’s 13 major crops by providing genes for pest resistance, improved yield and enhanced nutrition of which crop pest had gain a provision of diets through conservation in biodiversity, which record keeps bearing witness about.

Meanwhile, in forest dietary, research has it thata single brood of woodpeckers can eat 8,000 – 12,000 harmful insect pupae per day – helping to maintain the health of forests, whilst in fruit plantations, insectivorous birds can make the difference between a bumper crop or a costly failure.

Consequently, towards a convenience world for all, Biochemical Cycle such as oxygen, Nitrogen, hydrological cycles had impact countlessly in existence of both plants and animals by regulating their activities in each ecosystem.Pollutants and Waste materials are absorbed and breakdown through decomposition as in the instance of food webs and food chains where the flow of energy goes through production consumption and decomposition – without which breakdown and absorption of materials will not be complete.

In the same vein, biodiversity has over the years conceded tremendously in advancement of the operation of National Development in production of at least one third of the worlds food, including 87 of the 113 leading food crops, depends directly or indirectly by pollination carried out by insects, bats and birds.

However, while most people depend mainly on domesticated species for their dietary needs, some 200 Million depend on wild species for at least part of their food. And since the inception of agriculture, about 12 years ago, roughly 7,000 plant species have been used for human consumption, which contributed robustly in the advancement of national development.

To further substantiate the above claims with a scholarly view, Singh (2006) opined that, biodiversity plays an important role in the way ecosystem function and the services they provide. That is: it plays a major role in mitigating climate change by contributing to long term sequestration of carbon in a number of biomes.
Biodiversity conservation as a life-saving instrument on earth, in all its forms and keeping natural ecosystems functioning and healthy. This incorporates the preservation, maintenance, sustainable use, recovery and enhancement of the components of biological diversity. Meanwhile, preservation is an aspect of conservation, which borders on keeping something without altering or changing it.

In a very sharp contrast, biodiversity is declining and somersaulting the advancement of national development rapidly due to factors punching its gentle face, while such natural or human induced factors tend to interact and amplify each other. And they are to be discussed subsequently.

Firstly, the main factor directly driving biodiversity loss worldwide is habitat alteration and destruction. Habitat destruction renders entire habitats functionally unable to support the species present in the habitat.

Biodiversity reduced in this process when existing organisms in the habitat are displaced or destroyed (Ayoade at al., 2009; Agarwal et al., 2011). Natural habitats are often destroyed through human activity for the purpose of harvesting natural resources for industry production and urbanization. Clearing forest areas for agriculture, changes in the riverine habitat to lacustrine (reservoir) habitat by the construction of hydroelectric projects on the rivers (Agarwal et al., 2014). Also, mining, logging, urban sprawl, construction of highways are some examples of habitat destruction and fragmentation.

Secondly, in the view of Rawat (2007), the grazing pressure on most of the high altitude grasslands of the Uttarakhand state – both from migrant and local communities – is the extensive extraction of medicinal herbs in these areas, resulting in their over exploitation.

Most industrial fisheries are either fully or overexploited, while destructive fishing techniques harm estuaries and wetlands. Although, the true extent of exploitation is poorly known – it is clear that rates of off-take are extremely high in tropical forests.

Thirdly, over the past five decades, inorganic and organic pollutants have emerged as one of the most important factor of biodiversity loss in terrestrial, aquatic-marine, as well as freshwater ecosystems. Prakash (2007) had strongly cleared the air on this, through a reference to how vulture has suffered a 99% population decrease in India and become rare due to poisoning by DDT – used as pesticides and also by diclofenac which is used as veterinary non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug – leaving traces in cattle carcasses which when fed by vultures leads to thinning of egg shells, resulting into premature hatching and kidney failure in birds.

Also, in 2012, Dumont emphasizes that, until the middle of the 21st century, worldwide losses of pristine biodiversity will largely depend on the worldwide human birth rate. It is therefore vital to control human population which will result in biodiversity conservation.

Lastly, from 1950 to 2011, world population increased from 2.5 billion to 7 billion and with a forecast to reaching a plateau of more than 9 billion during the 21st century (Population Reference Bureau). As the human population is increasing, there exists insatiable demand for raw materials which is bound to cause changes in biodiversity. The human population has more impact on biodiversity than any other single factor.

Inconclusion, biodiversity is the life support system of our planet that we depend on for the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink. Medicines originating from wild species, including penicillin, aspirin, taxol, and quinine, have saved millions of lives and alleviated tremendous sufferings. Wetlands filter pollutants from water, trees and plants reduce global warming by absorbing carbon. Bacteria and fungi break down organic material and fertilize the soil to which manifests the impact of biodiversity.