Botanical gardens failed to conserve threatened plants despite Rs 48 crore budget: CAG report

Botanical gardens failed to conserve threatened plants despite Rs 48 crore budget: CAG report

Subject :Environment

Context:

• A scheme by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) with a budget of over Rs 48 crore was ineffective in conserving threatened and endemic plants in the country said a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India for the financial year 2020-2021. The report was released on December 23, 2022.

Details:

• MoEF&CC could not achieve the ex-situ conservation and multiplication of threatened and endemic plants through the Assistance to Botanic Garden (ABG) scheme.
• It was implemented through the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) and had a budget of Rs 48.07 crore

Ex-situ Conservation:

• This method involves removing threatened animals and plants from their native environment and relocating them to a designated location where they can be protected and given specialised care.
• This is accomplished by zoological parks, botanical gardens, wildlife safari parks, and seed banks.
• Many species of animals are nevertheless kept alive in zoological parks despite going extinct in the wild.
• Ex-situ conservation has recently gone beyond the preservation of vulnerable species.
• Now, utilizing cryopreservation technology, gametes of endangered species can be kept in viable and fertile form for extended periods of time.
• In vitro fertilization of eggs and tissue culture techniques for plant propagation are also possible.
• In seed banks, seeds of several genetic strains of commercially significant plants can be preserved for a long time.
• The key focus of the national gene bank at the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), Delhi, is the long-term preservation of rare accessions as base collections for future generations, particularly in the form of seeds.

Ex-situ Conservation facilities:

1. Botanical Gardens:

• This is a technique for ex-situ conservation of endangered and threatened species in their local habitats.
• Governments at various levels, educational institutions, and international assistance are all involved in maintaining this.
• More than 80,000 species can be found in more than 1500 botanic gardens and arboreta around the globe.
• There are currently tissue culture labs, seed banks, and other ex-situ technologies at many of these botanical gardens.

2. Zoological Parks (Zoos):

• Around the world, there are more than 800 professionally run zoos that house around 3000 different species of mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians.
• These zoos frequently feature advanced captive breeding programmes.
• Breeders and genetic engineers have a ready source of genetic material thanks to the protection of crop plants, animals, or microbes’ wild ancestors.
• Many tropical islands have a large number of indigenous animal species, and they also have a highly spectacular record of agro-biodiversity.

3. Wildlife Safari Parks:

• A zoo-like establishment frequently referred to as a “wildlife park,” a safari park is an example of ex-situ conservation.
• It is a drive-in tourist attraction where visitors can ride in vehicles provided by the establishment or drive their own cars while watching animals roam freely.
• A safari park is bigger than a zoo and smaller than a game reserve. For instance, the 750-acre African Lion Safari in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada (3.0 km2).

4. Seed Banks:

• Seeds are kept in seed banks in order to protect genetic variety for the future.
• They often contain jars of seeds from various plant species and are vaults that are bomb, flood, and radiation-proof.
• Seeds must be kept in storage for a variety of reasons. In order to boost crop output, disease resistance, drought tolerance, nutritional quality, flavor, and other traits, plant breeders need certain genes to be preserved.
• Another is to prevent the genetic diversity of rare or threatened plant species from being lost in an effort to ex situ conserve biodiversity.
• The seeds are normally stored in low humidity and cold (about -20°C) conditions.

Techniques for Plants

Cryopreservation:

• Seeds, pollen, tissue, and embryos are all stored in liquid nitrogen during plant cryopreservation.
• Compared to all other methods of ex situ conservation, this method allows for practically unlimited storage of the material without deterioration over a far longer time frame.
• Through cryopreservation of animal genetic resources, cryopreservation is also employed to conserve livestock genetics.
• Many species cannot be cryopreserved due to technical limits, but plants are the subject of several studies in the discipline of cryobiology, which is an area of ongoing research.

Seed Banking:

• The preservation of seeds in a setting with controlled humidity and temperature is called seed banking.
• For taxa with conventional seeds that can withstand desiccation, this method is employed.
• Facilities for seed banks range from climate-controlled walk-in freezers or vaults to sealed boxes.
• Normally, taxa with resistant seeds that cannot tolerate desiccation aren’t kept in seed banks for a very long time.

Field Gene Banking:

• Field Gene Banking refers to a sizable open-air planting used to preserve the genetic variety of wild, domesticated, or forest species.
• In most cases, field gene banks conserve species that are either impossible or difficult to conserve in seed banks.
• Field gene banks can be used to cultivate and pick offspring of species preserved via various ex situ methods.

Cultivation Collections:

• Cultivation Collections refer to plants that are cared for horticulturally in a built landscape, usually a botanic garden or arboretum.
• Although plants are kept in their natural habitat, this method is comparable to field gene banks in that collections are often not as large or genetically varied.
• These collections are vulnerable to disease spread, genetic drift, artificial selection, and hybridization.
• Frequently, cultivated collections contain species that cannot be preserved using other ex situ methods.

Inter situ:

• Horticulture is used to take care of the plants, but the surroundings are kept as close to nature as possible.
• This happens in both semi-natural and restored habitats.
• This method is mainly applied to uncommon taxa or those that are found in severely degraded habitats.

Tissue Culture:

• In tissue culture, somatic tissue can be kept in vitro for a short while.
• This is carried out in a setting with controlled lighting and temperature to manage cell development.
• Tissue culture is mostly utilized for clonal growth of vegetative tissue or immature seeds as an ex situ conservation strategy.
• This makes it possible for clonal plants to grow from a tiny amount of parent tissue.

Techniques for Animals:

• Similar methods are used to protect endangered animal species and breeds.
• Gene Banks:
  • In gene banks, which are composed of cryogenic facilities used to store living sperm, eggs, or embryos, animal species can be conserved.
• Cryopreservation:
  • For instance, the Zoological Society of San Diego has created a “frozen zoo” to retain such samples from more than 355 species, including mammals, reptiles, and birds, using cryopreservation techniques.
• Interspecific Pregnancy:
  • Interspecific pregnancy is one such method that could help endangered species reproduce.
  • It involves implanting embryos of an endangered species into a female of a related species and allowing to bring the embryo to term. For the Spanish ibex, it has been done.

Ex-situ Conservation:

Advantages

• Organisms are completely protected from predators and poachers.
• Individuals’ health can be tracked and medical assistance can be provided as required.
• Populations can be divided more effectively in the case of a disaster.
• The genetic diversity of the population can be measured.
• Selective breeding programmes can be implemented.
• Modern reproductive technology can increase the chances of reproductive success.
• Animals and plants can be bred to increase their numbers if they are in danger of extinction.
• Research on an endangered species’ reproductive physiology, way of life, and ecology is made simpler.
• Funds for additional conservation efforts might be raised by using conservation sites as attractions.
• Educational activities can take place in conservation areas.

Disadvantages:

• Genetic diversity in captive populations is minimal.
• As the creatures are residing outside of their normal habitat, nutritional problems could occur.
• Animals can be exposed to a wide variety of various diseases.
• Animals might not behave normally.
• Attempting to reproduce at times may become difficult.
• Appropriate environmental conditions for survival could be challenging to attain.
• Acceptance by the species’ current wild members may present challenges.