Wildlife conservation is an important
measure to revive back the declining stock of biodiversity. Conservation can be
done in different levels: genetic, species, ecosystem and landscape. Each level
of conservation has its pros and cons. However, landscape level has proven to
be a gem in conservation of wildlife as it includes every organism, from
microorganism to keystone species, their niche and all fundamental needs for
survival. In recent decades, people are becoming more awaked in conservation
and adopting different techniques and technologies. Also, the participation of
people in conservation is in rise and is contributing to innovative ways of
conserving wildlife.
Different technologies are being used
nowadays in field of conservation. Log cameras and motion sensor trap cameras
are helping modern conservationist to analyze and collect data of endangered
species. Drone surveillance in Africa to allocate poachers has been a boon in
protection of rhinos. Radio collaring, Global positioning system (GPS) and
Geographic information system (GIS) have vital roles in tracking the
distribution and studying behavior of wild animals.
On the flipside, there are still
complications in conserving wildlife. People are still not well educated in
many parts of the world and are still engaged in illegal trade wildlife and its
parts. Conservation plans and policies are not well adopted. For example, there
is a provision of compensating farmers if their cattle are killed by wild
animal from a protected area but it has been found that they are either
compensated with lesser than provisioned amount or not compensated at all.
National parks and their buffer zones are still conflict zones in many regions. Also, people residing around the vicinity of
protected areas still have fatalistic sense of futility, cynicism and tendency
to ignore things hampering conservation.
In context of Nepal, there has been a
steady and significant progress in conservation effort. On World Wildlife Day
on March 3, 2014, Nepal celebrated “zero poaching year”. This is the second
time in history of Nepal. The first” zero poaching year” was celebrated in 2011
and in 2012, only one rhino was lost to poaching. This achievement is
particularly valuable in face of increased poaching elsewhere. According to
WWF-USA, Kenya lost three rhinos in a week time span in heavily guarded Lake
Nakuru National Park since February,2014. Due to these efforts, Nepal has
regained its pride and has set a global example in field of conservation, which
a decade before, was a hub for poaching and illegal trade.
In the nutshell, modern conservation is no
more about species and its ecosystem, it is more about how sane the humans have
become and their attitude towards transforming the current trends of
environmental crisis.
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| White Rumped vulture painting ( Source: Google) |
