Protection of Biodiversity in State of Uttar Pradesh

1. INTRODUCTION:

India with her states is rich in biodiversity. The State of Uttar Pradesh although not that much biologically diversified nevertheless it has significant biodiversity. The main reason behind comparatively less biodiversity in U.P. lies in fact that it falls in Plain area where forest covers are scanty (9.01% of total geographical area). Nevertheless U.P. attempted to sustain its biodiversity with the help of various plans, projects protected areas and gene banks. The state of U.P.is represented by 56 species of mammals, 552 of birds of which 24 are globally threatened, 47 reptiles, 19amphibians and 79 fishes. The Sarus Crane has been declared as the State Bird. 25 important Bird areas have been designated. The flora of the state is composed of a total of 3987 species of which 2711 are higher plants (angiosperms) representing 18% of the countries angiospermic flora. 10 species are endemic. The common trees are Sal, Teak, Sissoo, Semal,Haldu, Tun, Kanju, Mango, Jamun, Neem, Bamboo,Peepal, Gutel, Tamarind, Poplar, Arjun, Babool, Amla and others.

2. BIODIVERSITY IN U.P.
Plant Diversity:

The vegetation of any area comprises tree, shrub and herbs along with fruit orchards. The trees, shrubs and woody climbers and creepers have long life therefore they are called as permanent vegetation. The botanical survey of India identified 152 invasive alien species in U.P. In U.P. preliminary data collection from secondary sources indicates following observation in the plant kingdom: In U.P. preliminary data collection from secondary sources indicates following observation in the plant kingdom:

Lichens are regarded as Natural Indicators for Air pollution. The state has the dominance of crustose lichens with 60 species. A total of 15 foliose lichens and equally large number of squamulose lichen with 14 species under various genera have been reported.

Faunal Diversity:

Uttar Pradesh has one National Park (Dudhwa, Distt. Lakhimpur Kheri) and 24 wildlife santuaries. Avifauna: Dudhwa national Park is rich in avifauna (birds and animals). Among the habitat types, wetlands/marshland have the highest number of species (105). These two habitats also account for the highest number of threatened species (15 or 16% of the birds recorded in Dudhwa).

The Sal forest has 53 bird species, and does not include any globally threatened species; however, the Pompadour Green Pigeon was seen, and constituted the first record from Uttar Pradesh. The fauna of UP consists of Tigers, Cats, antelopes, Deer, Wild Boars,Elephants, Rhinos and other animals. Eight mammalian species viz the Swamp Deer, wild Dog, Bobabs Marmot, Musk Deer, Tiger, Leopard and Asian Elephant are regarded as endangered. In terms of birds, Uttar Pradesh is home to various species such as Painted Storks, Black and White-necked Storks, Saras Cranes, Great Indian Horned-owl, Jungle Owlet, Colorful woodpeckers, Barbets, Kingfishers, Minivans, Bee-eaters and Bulbuls.

Fish Biodiversity: Uttar Pradesh being a land locked state having vast freshwater resources such and river, lakes, reservoirs, ponds and tanks. The freshwater aquaculture resources in the country comprises 2.25 million hectares of ponds and tanks out of which Uttar Pradesh has 1,61,372 ha. The state has 7, 20,000 ha where rivers occupy 28500 km and a few lakh hectares of paddy fields, a portion of which is amenable to fish farming. Different types of water resources available in the state. . Total fish biodiversity of U.P. contributes approximately 14.68% of the national fish biodiversity. Some authors have documented the fish biodiversity in Uttar Pradesh. According to a report as occurrence of 87 species from eastern part of U.P while 111 fish species have been recorded from U.P. and Bihar described 30 fish species in Allahabad stretches of river Ganga.

3. IN SITU AND EX-SITU CONSERVATION:

Ex-situ conservation of plants and animals preserve/ or protect them away from their natural habitat. This could be in zoological parks and botanical gardens or through the forestry institutions and agricultural research centers. A lot of effort is under way to collect and preserve the genetic material of crops, animal, bird and fish species. In Uttar Pradesh this work is being done by institutions such as: 1. Jhansi Botanical Garden, Jhansi,

2. Saharanpur Botanical Garden, Saharanpur,
3. National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow.
4. Kanpur zoological park , Kanpur
5. Prince of wales zoological gardens , Lucknow

Conservation of Plant biodiversity:

Over the last 20 years, much concern has been shown on the loss of plant genetic resources due to human and natural factors. To reduce the risk of loss of genetic materials of wild and cultivated varieties, worldwide efforts are being made towards in situ and ex situ conservation of plant germplasm. The conservation possibilities have been widened by the recent advances in plant genomics which allow the retrieval of large amount of information from DNA.

In view of this, the plants are now stored in the form of DNA which has many merits over other systems of storing plants. The DNA bank is a particular type of genetic resource bank that preserves and distributes the DNA samples and provides associated information and is useful in several applications. In the present work, apart from inventorying the tree species, a plant DNA bank has also been developed at Council of Scientific and Industrial research- National Botanical Research Institute (CSIR- NBRI), Lucknow to preserve their genetic materials.

Protected Areas:

Uttar Pradesh is one of the pioneering states in the national movement for conservation of flora and fauna. Conservation oriented legal proviso were made in the erstwhile Acts regulating hunting of game -birds and wild animals. In tune with the national consciousness towards conservation of flora and fauna the state government began setting up a network of in-situ conservation areas (National Parks and Sanctuaries) under the provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. There are 1 National Parks and 24 wildlife Sanctuaries in Uttar Pradesh.|

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* Dudhwa National Park,
* Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary, Nepalese Terai District Lakhimpur Kheri * Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, Nepalese Terai, District Bahraich * All the three wildlife park put together form the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. * Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, Pilibhit

* Nawabganj Bird Sanctuary, District Unnao
* Hastinapur Sanctuary, District Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad, Bijnor, Jyotiba Phule Nagar * National Chambal Wildlife Sanctuary, District Agra, Etawah * Mahavir Swami Sanctuary, District Lalitpur

* Ranipur Sanctuary, District Banda, Chitrakoot
* Chandra Prabha Sanctuary, District Chandauli
* Kaimoor Sanctuary, District Mirzapur and Sonbhadra
* Lakh Bahosi Sanctuary, District Kannauj
* Samaspur Sanctuary, District Rae Bareli
* Suhelva Sanctuary, District Balrampur, Gonda, Sravasti
* Sandi Bird Sanctuary, District Hardoi
* Bakhira Sanctuary, District Sant Kabir Nagar
* Patna Bird Sanctuary, District Etah
* Sur Sarovar Sanctuary, District Agra
* Suraha Tal Sanctuary, District Ballia
* Vijai Sagar Sanctuary, District Mahoba
* Saman Sanctuary, District Mainpuri
* Parvati Arga Sanctuary, District Gonda
* Okhla Sanctuary, District Ghaziabad, Gautam Buddha Nagar * Sohagi
Barwa Sanctuary, District Maharajganj
* Kachhua Sanctuary, District Varanasi

Conservation and management of FISH biodiversity:

Increasing pressure on aquatic resources indicate that fish conservation issues on wide variety of factors must be taken into consideration to develop a comprehensive action plan. Considerable efforts have been made by National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR), Lucknow to generate information that can provide holistic approach towards sustainable conservation of the biodiversity of fish. In order to conserve the threatened species, the strategies envisaged are: In-situ conservation:

Wide ranging aspects that are covered under in situ conservation programme include the role of protected areas and fish sanctuaries, habitat management and life history traits of prioritized species. The creation of specially targeted fish protected areas is an important step in the conservation of aquatic biodiversity. However, policies are required to create freshwater aquatic sanctuary for maximizing protection and in- situ conservation.

Ex-situ conservation:

Gene banking and cryopreservation of gametes of the prioritized fish is a powerful ex-situ conservation tool for preserving natural genetic variability in fish.. NBFGR, Lucknow is the leading organization in India having fish gene banking programmes and this is accomplished through repository of biological material and maintaining live gene bank of high conservation species.

4. Authorities for conservation of biodiversity in Uttar Pradesh: National Tiger Conservation Authority: (established in December 2005) The National Tiger Conservation Authority has also just proposed the creation of six new tiger reserves which would range from Uttar Pradesh to Goa to Tamil Nadu. The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA): it was established in 2003 to implement India’s Biological Diversity Act (2002). The NBA is a Statutory, Autonomous Body and it performs facilitative, regulatory and advisory function for the Government of India on issues of conservation, sustainable use of biological resources and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the use of biological resources.

The Biological Diversity Act (2002) mandates implementation of the Act through decentralized system with the NBA focusing on advising the Central Government on matters relating to the conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use of its components and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of biological resources; and advising the State Governments in the selection of areas of biodiversity importance to be notified as heritage sites and measures for the management of such heritage sites.

Uttar Pradesh State Biodiversity Board: The State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs) focus on advising the State Governments, subject to any guidelines issued by the Central Government, on matters relating to the conservation of biodiversity, sustainable use of its components and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of biological resources; DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES, UTTAR PRADESH: Development of water resources available in the state for increasing fish production to ensure that the fundamental purpose of the Department of Fisheries.

UTTAR PRADESH FOREST CORPORATION

Uttar Pradesh relatively high effective protection of forests, development and scientific exploitation of the forest as the local authority under the UP Forest Corporation Act 1974 Uttar Pradesh Forest Corporation was established on November 25, 1974. Being edited by the Uttar Pradesh Forest Corporation activities have been placed in the following categories: – 1. Removal and disposal of forest management plans in line with the forest. 2. Tendu leaves the task of collection and disposal.

3. Lalitpur, Jhansi, Mahoba, Chitrakoot, Mirzapur, Sonbhadra and Varanasi districts herbs – herb collection, storage and marketing functions.

CONCLUSION:

Biodiversity conservation is an important part of the Policy of State Government. The language in which this commitment has been expressed has changed, broadening from a focus on wildlife to flora and fauna conservation, and now to addressing the whole range of biodiversity, including ecosystems. Similarly, being rich in peculiar biodiversity the state of Uttar Pradesh is constantly attempting to proliferate its biological resources. In this attempt the most important role is played by protected areas, work of institutes and various plans and projects initiated and implemented by the central and state Governments. Moreover, improving the knowledge of biodiversity, strict implementation of innovative plans & projects and developing more robust approaches to sustaining, it will be a long but rewarding process in the area of conservation of biodiversity in the State of Uttar Pradesh.

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[ 1 ]. Nayaka,Sanjeeva and Upreti , Dalip K.; An Inventory of Lichens in Uttar Pradesh through Bibliographic Compilation, National Conference on Forest Biodiversity Earth’s Living Treasure May 22 , 2011 [ 2 ]. India State of Forest report 2011: Forest Survey of India,2011 [ 3 ]. Lakra, W.S.; Fish Biodiversity of Uttar Pradesh: Issues of Livelihood Security, Threats and Conservation , National Conference on Biodiversity, Development and Poverty Alleviation may 22, 2010. [ 4 ]. Ibid.

[ 5 ]. Kishor,Kamal; Tripathi, Abhinandan Mani; Assessment and Preservation of Tree Diversity of Uttar Pradesh, India [ 6 ]. Lakra, W.S.; Fish Biodiversity of Uttar Pradesh: Issues of Livelihood Security, Threats and Conservation , National Conference on Biodiversity, Development and Poverty Alleviation may 22, 2010.