Biodiversitv

y
&
I
This booklet is part of a Series of 6 Booklets on
Environmental Sustainability with a special focus
on Climate Change. Each booklet aims to motivate
individuals to take action to mitigate global warming
by providing basic information in an easy to
understand manner.
Biodiversity
&
I
Copyright © 2008
Centre for Environmental Research and Education (CERE)

ISBN 978-81-902018-2-7

PUBLISHER - Centre for Environmental Research

and Education (CERE)

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may

be copied, transmitted or reproduced in a retrieval
system in any form or by any means without prior
permission of the Publisher.

This booklet is printed using environmentally-friendly

materials. The inks used are vegetable oil-based inks and
the paper is wood-free and chlorine-free.
 Can you imagine a world
without chocolate?

It could happen. Your children or

grandchildren could grow up in a world
without chocolate.

Chocolate is made from cocoa, which

grows on Cacao trees that have been
cultivated in the forests of South
America for millions of years. But
today these plantations are at risk…

Like Cacao, there are millions of other

plant and animal species that we use in
our everyday life without realising their
importance. The rice we eat, the clothes
we wear, the rubber tyres we drive on,
all originate from plants or animals.
Many of these species are under severe
threat of extinction.

Can we afford to let all these species

just disappear?

3
 How Biodiversity
sustains me...

Food

Water Housing

Medicines Industrial
products

Clothes
DID YOU

KNOW...
There are as many as 100 million species
on Earth, of which only 1.7 million have
been identified. Humans are but one species.

4
 ...How I affect it

Pollution

Extinction Urbanisation

Habitat loss Climate

change

Poaching
DID YOU

KNOW...
Scientists estimate that between 50 and 150
species become extinct every 24 hours.

5
 WHAT IS BIODIVERSITY?

“The rich variety of life forms in nature”.

Biodiversity can be described as the variety

of all living things, including plants and
animals (species) and the places they live
(ecosystems).

6
A Living Web
All living things on earth are inter-linked;
they depend on each other for survival and
form a large web. If one link in the web is
disturbed or removed, its effects are felt all
over the web.

7
Biodiversity is not
restricted to wild flora
and fauna but is also
reflected in India’s
crops, with more than
500 varieties of pepper
and 5,000 varieties of
sorghum (jowar) in
existence. The country
also has significant
livestock diversity with
27 breeds of cattle, 40
breeds of sheep, 22
breeds of goat and 8
breeds of buffalo.

More than 60% of the

world's people depend
C T
directly on plants for FA
their medicines.

8
 MY RELATIONSHIP WITH
BIODIVERSITY

The food that I eat:

Almost everything
that I eat, drink or
use is a product of
biodiversity – it
began as a plant or
animal somewhere.

There are over 500 varieties of

mangoes in India and about 24
FACT varities are commercially
cultivated. India produces about
two-third of the world’s mangoes.
DID YOU

KNOW...
Phytoplankton are microscopic, single celled
creatures that make their own food. There are
over 5,000 species of phytoplankton. They
alone produce 90% of the Earth’s oxygen.

9
 Moringa oleifera or the Drumstick
Tree is indigenous to India. The world
over it is referred to as the The
Miracle Tree due to its high nutritional
value. The tree has been grown across
Africa to fight malnutrition as every
part of the tree is used by man. C T
FA

Leaves: Foliage:
Food Fodder
Medicine
Flowers:
Food
Medicine

Bark:
Medicine Pods:
Food
Sap:
Medicine Pod seeds:
Dye Food
Oil
Fertiliser
Water cleaner
Medicine
Roots:
Condiment
Medicine

10
Humans harvest food from all corners of the
earth, whether it is air, land or sea.

Every year 2,264 million tonnes

of cereals, 1,324 million tonnes
of sugarcane, 619 million tonnes
of milk and 259 million tonnes of C T
meat are produced worldwide. FA

11
 The clothes that
we wear: Most
textiles come from
a variety of
different plants and
animals.

Cotton comes from

the cotton plant,
linen comes from flax, jute and hemp come
from a group of plants called Crochorus, silk
is produced by silk worms and wool is
produced by sheep. Without this huge
diversity of animals and plants we would
never be able to dress in all the different
styles, colours and textures as we do.

The Gangetic delta

produces over 80% of
the world's jute. This
T
area includes parts of FAC
India and Bangladesh.

12
The house that I live
in: Like our clothes,
our houses and
furniture are also
made up of different
materials. Many of
these materials are
derived from plants
and include wood,
thatch, rattan, bamboo
and plywood.

There are over a 150 species of

trees used for timber in India.
These include Teak, Mahogany,
T
FAC
Sal and Rosewood. There are 130
species of wild and cultivated
bamboo that have been recorded
in India.

13
 The places where I live and those that I
visit on my holidays: We like to live in a
varied natural environment with open spaces
to walk and play in, trees for shade and
climbing, colourful and sweet smelling
flowers, water to swim in or sail on, beaches
to dream on, birds and animals to watch.
What would our
world be like
without trees, with
dead open spaces
and polluted lifeless
oceans?

KNOW...
DID YOU

Jim Corbett National Park in Uttar Pradesh

is India’s oldest national park and is visited
by over 50,000 tourists every year, many of them
foreigners.

14
 The medicines I take:
Researchers developing
new medicines have
always looked towards
our natural biological
resources for newer
treatments and cures.
Traditional medicines
and one-fourth of
prescription drugs are
based on plants; one of
the most famous examples being Digitalin
that is used to treat heart disease.

Moreover, it is likely that other as yet

unidentified species, could hold the answer
to many future medical cures. So the more
species that are conserved and researched,
the more chance there is of discovering
something of medicinal value. Who knows
what lifesaving drugs might one day be
extracted from India’s native plants and
animals?

15
 The materials for a lot of industrial
products: The raw materials for rubber,
turpentine, gums and resins, paper, dyes,
botanical pesticides, fibre and pulp are all
found in nature. Grass, rush, hemp, and sisal
are all used to make rope. Coir (coconut fibre)
is used to make twine, and also used in floor
mats, doormats,
brushes, mattresses,
floor tiles, and
sacks. Fibre from
pulpwood trees,
cotton, rice, hemp,
and nettle are used
to make paper.

KNOW...
DID YOU

The denim jeans you wear are dyed with a

natural dye called Indigo, which comes
from the plant Indigofera tinctoria. Indigo
has been used since the time of the Indus Valley
Civilisation. The word ‘indigo’ is derived from
the Greek word Indikon and the Latin word
Indicum, which mean ‘substance from India’.

16
 Money does grow on trees!

„ A tree that lives for 50

years generates Rs. 5.3
lakh worth of oxygen,
retains Rs. 6.4 lakh worth
of soil fertility, facilitates
Rs. 6.4 lakh worth of soil
erosion control, creates Rs. 10.5 lakh worth
of air pollution control and provides Rs. 5.3
lakh worth of shelter for birds and animals.
„ It also provides flowers and fruit.
„ When a tree falls or is felled, the net loss
is worth more than Rs. 33 lakh.

BRain TEASE S
R

Name the ancient system of medicine based on

the inherent principles of nature. It maintains the
health of a person by keeping the body, mind and
spirit in equilibrium with nature.
Ayurveda.

17
 WHERE IS
BIODIVERSITY FOUND?

Everywhere! In the park near your office, the

vegetation that grows along the railway
tracks, the playground near your child’s
school, in a puddle of water, on the surface of
your skin and of course, in reserved forests,
sanctuaries, national parks and other
protected areas around the world.

India, with 2.4% of the world’s area having

8.1% of the world’s total biodiversity, is one of
the 12 mega-diversity countries in the world.
India also has one of the largest networks of
protected areas worldwide. Its wildlife
sanctuaries and national parks cover an area of
around 1,12,274 square kilometres. These
protected areas harbour India’s natural
diversity and also conserve two of the world’s
18 biodiversity hotspots - the Eastern
Himalayas and the Western Ghats.

18
Eastern Himalayas: The

Rolf Hicks
Eastern Himalayan region
includes northeastern
India, Bhutan and a large
part of Nepal. It has nearly
163 globally threatened
species including the Red Panda Ailurus
fulgens, One-horned Rhinoceros Rhinoceros
unicornis, the Water Buffalo Bubalus
bubalis and a total of 45 mammal, 50 bird,
17 reptile, 12 amphibian, 3 invertebrate and
36 plant species.

As recently as 2000, about 45,000- T

C
47,000 plant species and about FA
90,000 species of fauna were
reported to occur in India,
representing 11% of the world’s
known flora and a little over 7% of
the world’s reported animal diversity.

19
 Western Ghats: The
Western Ghats are a
range of mountains
running parallel to India’s
western coast. They
cover 60,000 sq km and form the catchment
area for a complex of river systems that drain
almost 40% of India. This region harbours 5,000
plant, 139 mammal, 450 bird and 179 reptile
species. Many of these species are endemic and
found only in the Western Ghats, like the Lion-
tailed Macaque Macaca silenus and the highly
threatened Malabar Civet Viverra civettina.

Marine Biodiversity: With

Marine Photobank
Wolcott Henry/

7,500 km of coastline, the

islands of Andaman &
Nicobar and the atoll island
group of Lakshadweep,
India has a vast coastal and marine habitat. The
marine biodiversity of India is represented by
rich corals, diverse species of marine life
including whale sharks, whales, dolphins,
manatees, arthropods and molluscs.
20
Urban Biodiversity: Biodiversity is found
in urban areas as well. A prime example of
this is Mumbai city. This urban sprawl has
two protected areas, Sanjay Gandhi National
Park and a mangrove park, within its
municipal limits.

BRain TEASE S
R

Which two projects were set up by the

government in 1972 and 1992 to conserve and
protect two of India’s endangered mammals?
Project Elephant in 1992.
Project Tiger in 1972, and the lesser known

21
 BIODIVERSITY AS A
SAFETY NET AND AN
INSURANCE POLICY

This brings us back to

chocolate and why it is
at risk…

Commercial cocoa is
periodically attacked
by newer strains of
pests and diseases.
And each time
plantation owners go
back into the jungle reservoir of wild Cacao
to find plants with greater resistive strength.
Without that reservoir of wild Amazon
Cacao varieties, the growers would have
little to fight the diseases. But each year the
forests are felled and the number of wild
varities of Cacao get fewer and fewer. For
chocolate lovers the message is clear.
22
 Just a good cocoa
plantation, is not
enough to guarantee
the constant supply
of chocolate. You
also need to preserve
a large area of the Cacao tree’s original wild
home as an insurance policy against future
diseases. Cacao grows on plantations, but its
insurance grows in the Amazon rainforest.

And chocolate is not alone…

This is why we should protect our

biodiversity, because biodiversity is the
insurance policy and the safety net that
protects the Earth.
DID YOU

KNOW...
Banana, pineapple, capsicum, peanut,
orange, papaya, lemon, tomato, cinnamon,
pepper, coconut, sugarcane, avocado,
coffee bean, cashew and brazil nuts have all
originated from rain forests.

23
It maintains life on
earth:Without
biodiversity the earth
would no longer be
able to function. It is
the foundation of a healthy, functioning
environment upon which all life depends.
Thousands of organisms which at first seem
to have nothing to do with humans - insects
in the ground, floating plankton way out at
sea or trees growing in distant forests - all
actually help clean and recycle the air, water
and soil that we depend on for our survival.

Biodiversity helps with formation of soil,

production of energy and nutrients and
nitrogen, oxygen and carbon cycling.

24
 It acts as a
savings account
for agriculture,
providing raw
material for crops.
Biodiversity
provides food
security not only in
the form of
agricultural crops,
but also fisheries
and livestock.

KNOW...
DID YOU

At least 166 species of crops (6.7% of total

crop species in the world) and 320 ancestral
species of cultivated crops are believed to have
originated in India. These cover the entire range
of crops known to humans: cereals, millets,
legumes, vegetables, fruits, oilseeds, forages,
fibres, sugar yielding plants, spices, medicinal
and aromatic plants, and others.

25
 It meets the basic
needs of a vast
number of people in
India. Even today, a
large number of
communities
depend on the
resources that they
get from their surroundings, whether it is for
their daily needs of firewood, shelter,
medicine or food.

It protects us from
natural disasters by
controlling floods and
erosion. Mangrove
forests and coral
reefs, both areas of
rich biodiversity, are excellent natural
buffers against floods and storms. Their loss
has increased the severity of flooding on
coastal areas.

26
It protects our water
supply: The continued
loss of forests and the
destruction of watersheds
reduces the quality and
availability of water
supplied for household
use and agriculture.

It protects human
health: Human health
needs biodiversity
for a balanced diet,
for procurement of
medicines and more
importantly, a healthy
environment prevents
spread of diseases and
illness. Rich and robust
biodiversity assures a
better quality of life for
human beings.

27
 BIODIVERSITY IS A PART
OF OUR CULTURE AND
TRADITION
The importance of biological diversity to
human society is hard to overstate.

India has a long tradition

of conservation. In fact,
the world’s first formal
conservation laws and
edicts, governing man’s
conduct in nature and
protection of forests
and wildlife, were written and enacted into
law by Emperor Ashoka in 3 BC. Even
hunting was regulated by elaborate rules and
guidelines.

Rural communities, both tribal and non-

tribal, kept forests, waterbodies and
grasslands as sacred spaces, or protected
certain species as religious symbols.
28
Communities maintained a large amount of
agricultural diversity in the kind of agro-
ecosystems they developed. The tribal
communities in India have a tradition of
using wild plants for food, fibre, antidotes
against insect and snake bites, medicines and
to make farming and hunting implements.
However, the lifestyles of these communities
are changing and if traditional knowledge is
not recorded, it could be lost forever.

Sacred groves are tracts of forests or grassland

that are protected by traditional communities
who believe that gods and spirits reside inside
trees, plants and animals. The religion of these
communities is based on nature worship and
conservation. India has over 14,000 sacred
groves. The Bishnoi tribes manage sacred
groves called orans in the arid desert regions
of Rajasthan, in northwest India.
T
FAC

29
 THREATS TO
BIODIVERSITY
“We could push

Greenpeace
back deserts,
restore topsoil,
and allow the
ozone layer to be
repaired in a
century or so. We
could restore
climate stability
in the wake of Manatee, Dugong or Sea Cow

global warming within a thousand years. But

once a species is gone, it is gone for good.”
(Miller, 2004)

People, either directly or indirectly, are

the main threat to biodiversity.

„ Habitat destruction, deforestation and

over-grazing of forests by cattle are the main
causes of declining biodiversity in India.

30
 „ Rapid development: Since 1947 about
5.3 million hectares of forest area has been
exploited for river valley projects,
industries, agriculture, mining, townships
and roads. The forest cover of India has
dropped from about 41% in 1854 to about
19% in 2005.
„ Pollution of air, water and land has put
birds and other wildlife at risk. Entire
populations are at risk and often get wiped
out after pollution disasters like oil spills.

KNOW...
DID YOU

The proposed Sethusamudram shipping canal

off the coast of Tamil Nadu will force thousands
of endangered Olive Ridley sea turtles that come
to Orissa every winter to nest, to change their
migratory path, putting their lives at risk. It will
also have a significant impact on some of the most
important marine biodiversity areas of mainland
India. The Gulf of Mannar and Palk Strait regions
are among India’s richest coral reef ecosystems
and also home to some of the most extensive and
diverse sea grass meadows in the country.

31
„ Poaching is the illegal hunting or fishing
of wildlife. Poaching is a crime punishable
by law. However, the increased use of
animal parts for medicine has led to the
indiscriminate slaughter of species like
rhinos, monkeys, musk deer, bears, tigers,
and pangolins. Despite international
regulations and several national laws against
poaching, with heavy penalties for culprits,
the extremely high prices offered for the
parts of some species serve as a strong
incentive for the illegal trade in animal parts
to flourish. For example, 8 endangered
Asiatic lions were killed by poachers in Gir
in 2007.

32
 „ Tiger for Sale: Killed for Rs 5,000 in
India, the tiger retails for US $50,000.

Is this how we value our national animal?

Tail: Rs 9,200, Skin: Rs 45,000, Bones: Rs
30,000 upwards, Eyes: Rs 5,500 a pair,
Nose: Rs 700, Teeth: Canines cost Rs 5,600,
Claws: Rs 450, Blood: Rs 400 for a 40ml
bottle, Penis: a bowl of soup for Rs 1,600.

KNOW...
DID YOU

From a population of an estimated

1,00,000 in the 19th century, the Earth’s
wild tiger population has plummeted to around
5,000 to 7,000 individuals.

33
 „ Extinction is the
complete disappearance
of a species, so that not
a single member is left
on Earth. It is an
irreversible loss. So far
23 species of larger
animals are reported to
be extinct from India, including the Asiatic
Cheetah Acionyx jubatus veneticus, the
Lesser One-horned Rhino Rhinoceros
sondaicus, and the Pink-headed Duck
Rhodonessa caryophyllacea.

KNOW...
DID YOU

About 500 one-horned rhinoceros have been

killed by poachers over the past 20 years in
the Kaziranga National Park in Assam.
Experts believe that the rhino's horns, which are
purported to have aphrodisiac properties, are
smuggled to China or sold in other Asian markets.
In the Middle East the horns are used to make
ornamental dagger handles. The horns can sell for
up to US$ 35,000 a kilogram.

34
„ Exotic species are animal and plant
species that find themselves outside their
native habitat. These species cause changes to
the local ecosystem and sometimes destroy
other species native to that ecosystem.

„ Biopiracy is the process

by which the rights of
indigenous communities to
their local biodiversity,
natural resources and
knowledge is stolen by
wealthy pharmaceutical
companies for commercial
gain and exploitation. A
classic case is that of the
Neem tree. In 1995 the
U.S. Department of Agriculture and a
pharmaceutical research firm obtained a
patent on a technique to extract an anti-
fungal agent from the Neem tree, which
grows throughout India and is widely used
by Indian villagers for its medicinal value.
35
 The result was widespread public outcry,
which was echoed throughout the
developing world. Legal action by the Indian
government followed, with the patent
eventually being overturned in 2005.

Many plants, herbs and crops used

for many thousands of years in
India have all been patented. These
include turmeric, pepper, amla,
mustard, basmati rice, ginger, T
castor, amaltas, karela (bitter FAC
gourd) and jamun (black plum).

KNOW...
DID YOU

Around 200 medicinal plant species have

been added to the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild
Flora and Fauna (CITES) appendices. A World Wide
Fund for Nature (WWF) report estimates that over
two-thirds of the 50,000 medicinal plants in use
today are still harvested from the wild, of which
4,000 to 10,000 may now be endangered.

36
 BIODIVERSITY AND
CLIMATE CHANGE
The links between biodiversity and climate
change run both ways: biodiversity can
mitigate or reduce the impacts of climate
change on human society and the
environment, but, it is also threatened by a
rapidly changing climate.

The conservation of biodiversity can make

ecosystems more resilient and much stronger.
In turn, stable ecosystems will continue to
provide a range of services even under the
stress of climate change. These can range from
carbon sequestration (storage) to protection
from storms, flooding and sea level rises.

KNOW...
DID YOU

The super cyclone that hit Orissa in 1999

claimed the lives of over 10,000 people and
caused widespread devastation. The cyclone’s
impact was worsened by the large-scale deforestation
of mangrove forests along the coastline.

37
Climate change is already forcing species to
adapt, by moving to a new habitat, by
changing their life cycles, or by developing
new physical traits.

Those species that are unable to adapt are

facing extinction. In fact, estimates predict
that up to 1 million species may become
extinct as a result of climate change. The
recently extinct Golden
Toad and Gastric
Brooding Frog have
already been labelled
as the first victims of
climate change.

Over the past 25 years, some

penguin populations have
shrunk by 33% in parts of
Antarctica, due to a decline in
the winter sea-ice habitat.
T
FAC

38
 WHAT CAN BE DONE
TO HELP CONSERVE
BIODIVERSITY?

„ Have policies that constantly monitor

dangers to biodiversity and take corrective
measures when required.

„ Ensure that commercial development is

not allowed in ecologically sensitive areas.

„ Expanding biosphere reserves may not be

easy, but those that exist must be protected.

„ Document traditional knowledge before it

is lost, and use it to save resources that are
being eroded.

„ Reintroduce, re-locate, rehabilitate, and/or

enhance the populations of seriously
threatened species through captive breeding.

„ Create wildlife protected areas with strict

penalties for violations.
39
„ Train and involve village communities in
forest and wildlife management.

„ Go back to traditional methods of

agriculture using diverse crop cycles.
Policies have to be designed to promote
practices that help conserve diversity.

SUCCESS STORY
Gurukula Botanical Sanctuary,
a 55-acre forest garden, was
founded in 1981 in the
Wayanad district of Kerala. It is
a working laboratory in plant
research and habitat restoration. Wolfgang
Theuerkauf (whom locals respectfully call ‘Swami’)
came to Kerala from Germany 30 years ago. He
bought a degraded patch of forest and settled there
with dreams of ‘gardening’ it back to its natural
glory. Over the last 25 years a group of people
under Swami have single-mindedly worked to
protect and preserve the rare and threatened plants
of the Western Ghats. More than 2,000 native plant
species and other life forms are now found here.
The World Conservation Union (IUCN) recognises
it as one of the world’s 25 biodiversity centres.

40
 HANDY TIPS

This section has simple and practical tips

to conserve biodiversity that each of us
can easily adopt in our everyday lives.

41
 AT HOME & AT WORK

„ Recycle and reuse materials.

„ Conserve energy and use renewable
energy sources.
„ Use materials other than wood when
making furniture.
„ Conserve any green areas in and around
your city and encourage the development
of new parks and gardens.
„ Green your surroundings by planting
local plants, trees and shrubs.
„ Spread the message of conservation.

Dr. Vandana Shiva is one of India’s

leading voices against biopiracy.
She is a physicist, ecologist,
activist, editor, and author of many
books. Her most recent books are Biopiracy: The
Plunder of Nature and Knowledge and Stolen
Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food
Supply. Dr. Shiva has established Navdanya, a
movement for biodiversity conservation and
farmers’ rights.

42
IN THE PRODUCTS THAT I BUY
„ Do not buy or encourage the selling of
ivory, crocodile skin, tiger skin,
shahtoosh etc.
„ Buy products that are made locally or
within the country.
„ Do not support the trade of wild animals
and plants.
„ Do not keep exotic animals, birds or fish
as pets.
SUCCESS STORY
The Madras Snake Park and
Crocodile Bank, started by
Romulus Whitaker has
crocodiles from all over the
world. Started in 1972, with
the aim of breeding snakes and educating the
public, it also served as a centre for the Irula
tribesmen to extract snake venom from snakes, to
supply to institutes that make anti-venom
injections. Snakes bred in the park are also
released into the wild to increase the snake
population. Today, it has crocodiles from all over
the world and breeding populations of Indian
crocodile species, that are available for re-
introduction projects all over India.

43
 IN THE FOOD I EAT
„ Eat foods that are indigenous or native to
your area of the country.
„ Include traditional cereals and grains,
ones that your grandparents ate, in your
diet. They are more nutritious than the
ones we eat today.
„ Eat a variety of local fruits and
vegetables.
„ Do not eat fish during the breeding
season.
„ Do not eat Genetically Modified (GM)
foods.
„ Buy your food from the local grocer, not
large retail stores.

BRain TEASE S
R

What do all these animals have in common:

the Arunachal Macaque Macaca munzala, the
Laotian Rock Rat, the Leaf Muntjac and
the Bugun liocichla?
discovered in India in the last 10 years.
They are all species that have been

44
 WHEN TRAVELLING
„ Visit and see the many different natural
wonders of our world.
„ Support national parks and wildlife
sanctuaries. Follow the rules that are
posted in protected areas.
„ Enjoy the protected area, but don’t take
away anything that belongs there. This
includes shells and coral on beaches and
dried wood, feathers and flowers in
forests.
„ Do not litter or damage the environment.
„ Do not hunt or kill animals.

Signature Spider

45
 LEGISLATION

India is a signatory to various international legislations such

as CITES (Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), and the
Convention on Biological Diversity.

There are a number of national laws that protect the nation’s

biodiversity including the Indian Wildlife (Protection)
Act, 1972, Biological Diversity Act, 2002 and Forest
(Conservation) Act, 1980. Despite this, species keep
disappearing at an alarming rate due to the apathy of the
government and an overloaded legal system. Poachers, if
caught, are not tried for years, and more often than not
escape without even a fine to return to their trade. You have
but to read the daily newspaper to realise that our national
parks and sanctuaries offer little protection to wildlife.

KNOW...
DID YOU

Around 500 Indian bird species are captured for

trade as pets, for food, medicine, sport, ornamental
and even religious purposes. The illegal trade
in birds extends to hill mynahs and parakeets,
owls, munias and even crows and vultures.
Globally, where approximately 3.5 to 5
million birds are traded annually, the mortality
rate is extremely high. Of every three birds caught,
one dies during capture, one dies during
transportation and only one ends up in the cage.

46
 IMPORTANT RESOURCES

WEBSITES:
http://www.iucn.org
„ The website of the World Conservation Union is an
exhaustive source of information for various biodiversity
issues.

http://www.cbd.int
„ The Convention on Biological Diversity is an excellent
resource for all aspects of biological diversity.

http://www.zeroextinction.org
„ This website has a lot of information about endangered
species worldwide and organisations working to save them
from extinction.

http://www.envfor.nic.in
„ This is the website of the Ministry of Environment and
Forests, which is responsible for biodiversity issues in
India.

http://www.unep.org
„ The United Nations Environment Programme website
covers most biodiversity-related issues.

47
 IMPORTANT RESOURCES

ORGANISATIONS:
Conservation: Bombay Natural History Society
Tel: +91-22- 22821811
Email: bnhs@bom4.vsnl.net.in
Website: http://www.bnhs.org

Biopiracy: Navdanya
Tel: 91-11-26535422, 26968077
Email: vshiva@vsnl.com
Website: http://www.navdanya.org

Ecological Sustainability: Kalpavriksh

Tel: +91-20-25654239 / 25675450
Email: kalpavriksh@vsnl.net
Website: http://www.kalpavriksh.org

Wildlife Ecology: Wildlife Institute of India

Tel : +91 135 2640111-15
Fax : +91 135 2640117
Email: wii@wii.gov.in
Website: http://www.wii.gov.in

For information, contact:

Centre for Environmental Research and Education
Email: cere_india@yahoo.co.in
Website: www.cere-india.org

48
This Series of 6 Information Booklets on
Environmental Sustainability includes the titles:

Waste & I
Water & I
Energy & I
Biodiversity & I
Citizenship & I
Climate Change & I

The Centre for Environmental Research and

Education (CERE) is a Mumbai-based non-profit
organisation that works to promote environmental
sustainability.
 RECONNECT
REVALUE
RESTORE
REFOREST
REVIVE

Biodiversity

ISBN 978-81-902018-2-7

PRICE Rs. 50/-

PRINTED IN INDIA