Introductory Chapter: Today’s National Parks (NPs) and Protected Areas (PAs) for a Sustainable Future
08 Jan 2020-
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the wider impacts of a national park within the scope of an integrated environmental hub at the global and regional level and eventually delved into the country case, and evaluate the challenges underlying country's intention to gauge on the potentials of National Park and pinpoints adequate attention in exploiting new strategy for national park management.
Abstract: The project aims to examine the context and practice of national park with countries’ obligation to safeguard the biodiversity through the protection and management of forest protected areas. The article sets to examine the wider impacts of a national park within the scope of an integrated environmental hub at the global and regional level and eventually delved into the country case. The article covers three areas, first, divulges theoretical underpinning and concepts relating to the national park, exploring various modalities of the national park and integrated concern for the environment. Second, empirical review in lieu with effective management of protected areas as defined by the World Conservation Union IUCN, addressing the efficiency use of human and material resources including national/agency protected area regulations and legislation, policies, international conventions and designations, and management plans and/ or agreements associated to those areas. And, thirdly, evaluation of challenges underlying country’s intention to gauge on the potentials of National Park and pinpoints adequate attention in exploiting new strategy for national park management.strategy for national park management.
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TL;DR: The major drivers of the medicinal plant biodiversity crisis include the destruction of wild habitats, overexploitation of preferred wild species, the introduction of invasive alien species, conversion of land use, domestic and global biotrade, human-induced pollution and climate change, technological advancement, etc as mentioned in this paper .
Abstract: Loss of biodiversity or species extinction (the disappearance of existing species from the earth) and speciation (the origin of new species) are natural, fundamental, and irreversible biological processes that have shaped modern-day life on earth. The entire biodiversity on the planet, irrespective of plant, animal, or fungi, is presently undergoing an anthropogenic episodic extinction event in which they face a tremendous risk of reducing wild population and premature species extinction. The biodiversity of medicinal plants is also suffering the same crisis. Their therapeutic and commercial relevance frequently results in more significant anthropogenic pressure. The major drivers of the medicinal plant biodiversity crisis include the destruction of wild habitats, overexploitation of preferred wild species, the introduction of invasive alien species, conversion of land use, domestic and global biotrade, human-induced pollution and climate change, technological advancement, etc. The combined influence of these driving forces has resulted in a 100- to 1000-fold increase in species extinction rate compared to the average background extinction rate, which is expected to increase further during the next century. It will result in the irreversible loss of a high percentage of species from the earth in a short period if preventive measures are not implemented immediately. The risk of extinction is species-specific and influenced by their intrinsic properties, such as their growth and reproductive efficiency, range of distribution, competitiveness, adaptability, and extrinsic factors, such as the degree and severity of the driving force acting on them, environmental and climatic parameters, etc. In situ and ex situ conservation, cultivation conservation with good agriculture practices, minimizing human intervention in natural processes, and sustainable use of medicinal plants are major weapons to deal with the current biodiversity crisis. Although several preventive initiatives have already been implemented to tackle this issue, the outcomes still need improvement. The Convention on Biological Diversity has established 20 Aichi Biodiversity Targets as part of its biodiversity strategy plan for 2011–2020. Despite significant improvements in a few categories, the biodiversity crisis still persists, and in most cases, neither the status nor the number of threatened plant species in nature is improving significantly in the last few decades. The solution to the current medicinal plant biodiversity crisis is not possible through a one-size-fits-all approach since it is a hugely challenging endeavour that demands the implementation of more constructive, effective, and equitable conservation and suitability strategies in the coming decade by taking the experiences of the previous decade as a baseline and addressing the lacunae and difficulties of the present strategies. It demands integrated, passionate cumulative global efforts of indigenous peoples; governmental, non-governmental, and public organizations at the local, national, and global levels; leaders; and ordinary people beyond the political and geographical borders.
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TL;DR: Differences between fossil and modern data and the addition of recently available palaeontological information influence understanding of the current extinction crisis, and results confirm that current extinction rates are higher than would be expected from the fossil record.
Abstract: Palaeontologists characterize mass extinctions as times when the Earth loses more than three-quarters of its species in a geologically short interval, as has happened only five times in the past 540 million years or so. Biologists now suggest that a sixth mass extinction may be under way, given the known species losses over the past few centuries and millennia. Here we review how differences between fossil and modern data and the addition of recently available palaeontological information influence our understanding of the current extinction crisis. Our results confirm that current extinction rates are higher than would be expected from the fossil record, highlighting the need for effective conservation measures.
3,051 citations
TL;DR: The growing evidence that climate–health relationships pose increasing health risks under future projections of climate change is reviewed and that the warming trend over recent decades has already contributed to increased morbidity and mortality in many regions of the world.
Abstract: The World Health Organisation estimates that the warming and precipitation trends due to anthropogenic climate change of the past 30 years already claim over 150,000 lives annually. Many prevalent human diseases are linked to climate fluctuations, from cardiovascular mortality and respiratory illnesses due to heatwaves, to altered transmission of infectious diseases and malnutrition from crop failures. Uncertainty remains in attributing the expansion or resurgence of diseases to climate change, owing to lack of long-term, high-quality data sets as well as the large influence of socio-economic factors and changes in immunity and drug resistance. Here we review the growing evidence that climate-health relationships pose increasing health risks under future projections of climate change and that the warming trend over recent decades has already contributed to increased morbidity and mortality in many regions of the world. Potentially vulnerable regions include the temperate latitudes, which are projected to warm disproportionately, the regions around the Pacific and Indian oceans that are currently subjected to large rainfall variability due to the El Nino/Southern Oscillation sub-Saharan Africa and sprawling cities where the urban heat island effect could intensify extreme climatic events.
2,552 citations
Journal Article•
790 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined nine combinations of three sets of potential indicators of the vulnerability of ecosystems to biome change: observed changes of 20thcentury climate, projected 21st-century vegetation changes using the MC1 dynamic global vegetation model under three Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emissions scenarios, and overlap of results from (1) and (2).
Abstract: Aim Climate change threatens to shift vegetation, disrupting ecosystems and damaging human well-being. Field observations in boreal, temperate and tropical ecosystems have detected biome changes in the 20th century, yet a lack of spatial data on vulnerability hinders organizations that manage natural resources from identifying priority areas for adaptation measures. We explore potential methods to identify areas vulnerable to vegetation shifts and potential refugia. Location Global vegetation biomes. Methods We examined nine combinations of three sets of potential indicators of the vulnerability of ecosystems to biome change: (1) observed changes of 20thcentury climate, (2) projected 21st-century vegetation changes using the MC1 dynamic global vegetation model under three Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emissions scenarios, and (3) overlap of results from (1) and (2). Estimating probability density functions for climate observations and confidence levels for vegetation projections, we classified areas into vulnerability classes based on IPCC treatment of uncertainty. Results One-tenth to one-half of global land may be highly (confidence 0.80‐ 0.95) to very highly (confidence ! 0.95) vulnerable. Temperate mixed forest, boreal conifer and tundra and alpine biomes show the highest vulnerability, often due to potential changes in wildfire. Tropical evergreen broadleaf forest and desert biomes show the lowest vulnerability. Main conclusions Spatial analyses of observed climate and projected vegetation indicate widespread vulnerability of ecosystems to biome change. A mismatch between vulnerability patterns and the geographic priorities of natural resource organizations suggests the need to adapt management plans. Approximately a billion people live in the areas classified as vulnerable.
511 citations
Book•
01 Sep 1979
225 citations