Ex situ conservation
- Conserving biodiversity outside the areas where they naturally occur is known as ex situ conservation. Here, animals and plants are reared or cultivated in areas like zoological or botanical parks.
- Reintroduction of an animal or plant into the habitat from where it has become extinct is another form of ex situ conservation.
- For example, the Gangetic gharial has been reintroduced in the rivers of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan where it had become extinct.
- Seedbanks, botanical, horticultural and recreational gardens are important centres for ex situ conservation.
In situ conservation
- Conserving the animals and plants in their natural habitats is known as in situ conservation.
- This includes the establishment of
- National parks and sanctuaries
- Biosphere reserves
- Nature reserves
- Reserved and protected forests
- Preservation plots
- Reserved forests
Projects to save threatened species
Project Tiger
- Project Tiger was initiated as a Central Sector Scheme in 1973 with 9 tiger reserves located in different habitat types in 9 different states.
- There are totally 18 Reserves in 13 states.
- At present tiger Conservation has been viewed in India not only as an effort to save an endangered species but, with equal importance, also as a means of preserving biotypes of sizeable magnitude.
Crocodile Breeding Project
- The project was started in Orissa and then extended to several other states in April 1975 with UNDP assistance.
- The main objective was to protect the three endangered species of crocodiles namely – Gavialis gangeticus, Crocodylus palustris and the salt water crocodile, Crocodylus porosus.
Project Elephant
- It was launched in 1991 to protect the Asiatic elephant which is also a highly endangered species because of large scale poaching.
Project Rhino
- It was launched in 1987 in Kaziranga Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam to save the lesser one horned rhinoceros from extinction. It covers an area of 430 sq.km. and is the natural of the dwindling rhino.
Himalayan musk deer project
- This was launched in 1981 to save the endangered musk deer which is facing extinction. Captive breeding has yielded good results.
Project Hangul
- This project was launched in 1970 in Kashmir valley to save the highly endangered Kashmir stag (Cerevus elaphus hanglu) which is facing extinction. As a result their population has increased