In-situ Conservation: Protected Areas

Given the scale and variety of threats to biodiversity described earlier in this chapter, conservation efforts are organised around two broad strategies, distinguished by where the protection actually takes place: in-situ conservation, protecting species within their own natural habitat, and ex-situ conservation, protecting species outside their natural habitat, examined separately later in this chapter. In-situ conservation is generally regarded as the preferred, primary strategy wherever it remains practically feasible, because it protects not just the target species itself but the entire natural community and ecosystem the species belongs to, allowing the full web of ecological interactions -- predator-prey relationships, pollination, seed dispersal, and so on -- to continue functioning naturally, rather than preserving an isolated species in an artificial setting disconnected from its normal ecological context.

In India, in-situ conservation is carried out chiefly through a system of legally protected areas, of which four broad types are most common. National Parks are areas of land set aside by law specifically for the conservation of wildlife and its habitat, within which human activities such as grazing, forestry, cultivation and, in most cases, private land ownership are strictly prohibited, so that the ecosystem can be managed with wildlife protection as the single overriding priority. Wildlife Sanctuaries are also legally protected areas set aside for the conservation of wildlife, but they permit certain regulated human activities to continue within their boundaries -- such as limited grazing, controlled harvesting of specific forest produce, or other traditional, licensed uses -- provided these do not conflict with the sanctuary's primary wildlife-protection purpose, making the restrictions placed on human activity generally less abso …