Environmental degradation, management and conservation | Environmental Geography | Principle Of Geography

 

Environmental Geography

Principle Of Geography

Geography Complete Study Material

(Paper - I)

Environmental degradation, management and conservation

Environmental Degradation

            Environmental degradation is the degradation of the environment caused by the depletion of resources such as air, water, and soil as well as ecosystem destruction and wildlife extinction. The environment is degraded when natural habitats are destroyed or natural resources are depleted.

          Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife; and pollution. It is defined as any change or disturbance to the environment perceived to be deleterious or undesirable.

           Environmental degradation is one of the ten threats officially cautioned by the High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change of the United Nations. The United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction defines environmental degradation as “The reduction of the capacity of the environment to meet social and ecological objectives, and needs”. Environmental degradation is of many types. When natural habitats are destroyed or natural resources are depleted, the environment is degraded.

         Degraded Environment is classified on the basis of productive capacity of the Environment. For example, Slight degradation refers to the condition that where crop yield potential is reduced by 10%. Moderate degradation refers to 10-50% reduction in yield potential and in severely degradation means that the land has yield potential is lost more than 50% of its potential yield capacity (productive capacity).

Causes of Environmental degradation

1.    Pollution

2.    Increased population 

3.    Poverty

4.    Urbanization

5.    Economic development 

6.    Agriculture intensification 

7.    Institutional factor

8.    Habitat fragmentation

9.     Soil erosion and desertification

10.    Water logging and soil salinity 

11.    An increase in energy consumption 

12.    Expansion of transportation

Environmental Management

      Environmental Management means making, executing, monitoring, reporting, and reviewing environmental policies through a technological revolution. The following are objectives of environmental management:

• Identify the environmental issue.
• Finding the solutions for long and short terms.
• Make a sustainable practice.
• Behavioral changes
• Minimize the natural hazard
• Conservation and protection of Environment resources at all levels.
• Upgradation of technology for efficient use of resources.
• Equity, growth, and sustainability
• Decentralization and people participation

Environmental Conservation

      Protection of natural ecosystem demands management of human use of the biosphere resources such that they give maximum benefits to the present human generation while maintaining its potential to meet the needs of future human generations. Protection of natural ecosystems to an environmentalist means to protect animals and plants in their natural habitat in totality and not the protection of any one species . It can be achieved by the following methods:-

• Humans should reduce their needs. 
• Introduction of the species from the other parts of the world and the human interference should be reduced to minimum into natural ecosystems. 
• Some of the areas should be earmarked as protected or reserve zones. This can be achieved by making buffer or transitional zones around the protected area. (Buffer zone and transitional zones are where only a few humans are permitted to enter) 
• Species in the detrimental habitats should be shifted to their unexploited natural habitat. Delhi Development Authority along with Delhi University has jointly established a Yamuna Biodiversity park in Delhi to protect and restore natural biodiversity lost from the Yamuna river bank. The same natural habitat is created for the plants and aquatic birds. Within a span of one year after the establishment of wetland the number of migratory birds has increased remarkably.
• Zones of megadiversity and hot spots of biodiversity should be protected. Megadiversity zones are those regions of the world which have largest number of species. 200 global megadiversities have been identified. India is one of the megadiversity countries. Hot spots are the richest and most threatened reservoirs of plant and animal life of the earth. They have maximum number of endemic species. 25 terrestrial hot spots have been identified for the conservation of biodiversity. They occupy 1.4% of the earth’s surface and 20% of worlds the human population lives in these areas. Western ghats and Eastern Himalayas are two hot spots of India. 
• International and national level efforts should be made for conserving natural ecosystems e.g. Earth Summit held in June 1992 at Rio di Janerio , Brazil, it wasresolved to make efforts to protect and conserve biodiversity. 
• Sacred forests and sacred lakes are protected by the tribal communities due to the religious sanctity accorded to these forests. They are most undisturbed by human activity and are known as pristine forests. Chipko movement to protect the forests of Mandal villages a good example of local people’s effort to conserve natural ecosystems.