Page 134 - Health, Population and Environment Education 10

produced from homes, hotels and lodges, factories and industries. These activities affect
the food cycle and the habitat of biodiversity. As a result, their status is affected.
Since food and habitat play a vital role in maintaining biodiversity, people should not
destroy them. Conservational activities, afforestation and plantation on barren land etc.
should be increased. The water bodies should not be polluted. Development activities
should be conducted sustainably without affecting natural resources.

c. Loss of Mobility
The natural environment like forest, grassland,water-resources, etc. required for the
mobility of birds and animals is lost due to human activities. Human beings destroy the
forest, expand the agricultural land, establish factories and industries, etc. to fulfill the
needs of increasing population. These activities reduce the mobility of birds and animals.
As a result, their number gets reduced.

In order to conserve the living beings, we should not destroy natural environment.
Afforestation and plantation should be promoted to conserve the biodiversity.

d. Limitation of Vegetation
The growing population needs more land for the production of food and construction of
houses. They destroy the forests and grassland to extend the agricultural land to meet
the food demands of people. The destruction of forest deteriorates the biodiversity. Thus
humans beings should expand the forests by planting trees near their residences, on both
the sides of road and on the barren land. Overgrazing should also be stopped to reduce
the effect on biodiversity.

National and local Biodiversity Conservation Programme

Biodiversity is essential to be conserved to continue the life of living beings on the earth.
Various conservation programmes are conducted at local and national level to preserve
biodiversity. Some of the programmes which are being launched for conservation of
biodiversity are given below:

a. National Parks, Wildlife Reserves and Conservation Areas
Various national parks, wildlife reserves and conservation areas are established in our
country. There are 12 National Parks, 1 Wildlife Reserve, 6 Conservation Areas and 1
Hunting Reserve in the country. About 18.5% of the total land of Nepal is covered by
protected areas. These areas are helping the plants and animals to live in their original
habitat, i.e. In-Situ conservation. The function of In-Situ is to conserve the biodiversity in
the original place. This attempt helps to conserve the ecological system of that area. This
will make the habitat and food available to the living beings. No one is allowed to enter
into these areas without permission. Thus, the establishment of conservation areas should
be encouraged to preserve biodiversity. Chitawan National Park, Sagarmatha National
Park, Banke National Park, Lantang National Park, Parsa National Park and Annapurna
Conservation Areas are some conservation areas established to conserve biodiversity.

134 GREEN Health, Population and Environment Education Book-10