Protecting biodiversity

What happens if a habitat is damaged? Could a goat live with no grass to eat? Could a fish live without water? Ask your parents, grandparents and neighbours which birds, insects and plants they saw often as children but rarely see now. Changes like these often happen when habitats are damaged.

When a habitat is damaged, plants and animals lose their homes, their food and other resources. Many cannot survive, and this leads to loss of biodiversity.

In India, the numbers of the Bengal Tiger, the Cheetah and the Great Indian Bustard have fallen because human activities destroyed their habitats. So:

• The Government of India began Project Tiger in 1973 to protect the Bengal Tiger.
• It began the Cheetah Reintroduction Project in 2022 to bring the cheetah back.
• The habitats of the Great Indian Bustard in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Maharashtra have been declared protected areas.

Local communities protect biodiversity too. Sacred groves are undisturbed patches of forest found all over India. They are home to many plants and animals, including many medicinal plants. The local community looks after them: no one may harm the animals, cut the trees or disturb the area.

Silent Valley is a moist evergreen forest in the Palakkad district of Kerala. There was a plan to build a hydroelectric dam across the Kunthipuzha river, which would have flooded the forest. Common people, many of whom did not even live nearby, fought the plan for 10 years: awareness programmes, letters to newspapers, articles, meetings and court cases. Their Save Silent Valley movement saved the forest.