Year: IV Course Title: Biodiversity Conservation and Management Lecture hours: 150 Course Code: Env. 401

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1 Year: IV Course Title: Biodiversity Conservation and Management Lecture hours: 150 Course Code: Env. 401 Full marks: 100 Pass marks: 35 Nature of Course: Theory (Compulsory-I) Objectives To acquaint students with the current state of global and national biodiversity To provide extensive knowledge on major threats to biodiversity and threatening processes To familiarize students with the practices and approaches to biodiversity conservation To familiarize students with conservation policies leading to sustainable development Unit 1: Introduction 15 hrs Biodiversity: concepts and scope; structural, functional and compositional attributes of biodiversity at different levels of biological organization Importance of biodiversity, linkages and feedback among biodiversity (gene, population, species, communities, ecosystems), Biodiversity crisis (ecocrisis); Conservation history: Antiquity (eastern versus western practices and philosophies), conservation ethics, the middle ages, the industrial ages, the post industrial age (Silent Spring, The Quiet Crisis); philosophical guidance, theory and practice of modern conservation biology, guiding principles of conservation biology Conservation movement: Pinchotism, The Land Ethics The death of environmentalism; Conservation science as a mission driven discipline: Challenging the global challenge. Unit 2: State of Biodiversity 30 hrs Biodiversity: Definition, types, hierarchy/levels (gene, species, ecosystem, biomes): hierarchical indicators for monitoring biodiversity; Patterns in distribution of biodiversity: pattern of species richness, pattern of endemism, ; Factors affecting distribution of biodiversity; Gradients of biodiversity: latitudinal gradient, altitudinal gradient, major hypotheses in biodiversity gradients: species richnessenergy relationships, disturbance and species richness; Current state of biodiversity: Global, regional and national, ecosystem and biome diversity, world s ecoregions, ecosystem and habitat diversity in Nepal, floral and faunal diversity in Nepal; Importance of biodiversity: Biodiversity and ecosystem services (supporting, provisioning, regulating and cultural), biodiversity and ecosystem functioning; Value of biodiversity: Instrumental value and intrinsic value; Monetizing value of biodiversity; Payment for ecosystem services (PES). State of biodiversity in Nepal: Forests (types and distribution, importance, degradation and its causes, consequences of forest degradation), wetlands (types, distribu tion, Ramsar Sites, importance), rangelands (coverage and distribution, importance: grazing, medicinal plants), agrobiodiversity; Rare, endangered and endemic species of Nepal (fl ora and fauna); Protected species of Nepal (fl ora and fauna). Unit 3: Threats to Biodiversity 30 hrs Biodiversity crisis: Prehistoric extinctions, recent extinctions and endangerment; Extinction forces, impacts of extinctions; Major threats and threatening processes: Current patterns and processes of

2 global endangerment, vulnerability of species to extinctions, economic and social contexts of endangerment. Major threats to biodiversity: (a) Habitat degradation and loss: Patterns of habitat transformation, human activities that cause habitat degradation, pollution as a form of habitat degradation; (b) Habitat fragmentation: Fragmentation and heterogeneity, fragmentation processes, biological consequences of fragmentation; (c) Overexploitation impacts of exploitation on target and nontarget species and on ecosystems, wildlife trade; (d) Species invasion: Invasive species and invasion process, conservation implications of invasions, biological impacts of invasions (case studies on Mikaniamicrantha, Eichhorniacrassipes, Lantana camara, Partheniumhysterophorus); (e) Climate change: biological impacts of climate change, conservation implications of climate change; Impacts of loss of biodiversity; Nature of biodiversity problems between developed and developing worlds; Development versus conservation: Dams and roads in the Himalayas; Challenges to biodiversity in urban areas. Unit 4: Conservation and Management of Biodiversity 30 hrs Responses to the biodiversity crisis: Approaches to global habitat conservation (hotspots, Global 200 eco-regions, crisis eco-regions, wilderness protection): hotspot definition and need, hotspot criteria, conservation status of hotspots, global distribution of hotspots, Himalayan hotspot; Global 200 ecoregions: definition, concept, characteristics, selection criteria; crisis ecoregions; concept, conservation risk index, criteria for identifying critically endangered, endangered and vulnerable ecoregions; wilderness protection: definition and concept, need to protect wilderness. Sustainable resource use: Biological theory of sustainable exploitation: logistic growth model, sustainable yield, constant quota exploitation, proportional exploitation, threshold exploitation, open access and tragedy of commons. Methods of calculating sustainable yields: surplus production, yield per recruit, full demography. Management of invasive species: introduced species, invasion, invading species characteristics, impacts of invasion, invasion control, invasion protection, species based control, biological control Solving conservation problems: in-situ and ex-situ conservation, definition, importance of in-situ and exsitu conservation, protected areas, special animal projects, botanical gardens, seed banks, field gene banks, in-vitro storage, cryopreservation, DNA bank-net, zoo, in-situ and ex-situ conservation in Nepal Conservation genetics: genetic issues in conservation biology, genetic variation and its importance, variation within individuals, variation among individuals, variation among population, variation at the level of metapopulation, genetically effective population size, mutation, genetic drift, gene flow, inbreeding depression, outbreeding depression, natural selection, use and importance of genetic information in biodiversity conservation Species and landscape approaches to conservation: IUCN Red list of threatened species, special problems of very small populations: inbreeding, demographic uncertainty, environmental uncertainty, natural catastrophes, metapopulation concepts, threshold responses and conservation, population viability analysis, landscape models for conservation, spatially explicit population models, challenges and opportunities of conservation at landscape level, species and landscape approaches to conservation in Nepal Ecosystem approaches to conservation: ecosystem management, ecological, socioeconomic and institutional perspectives in ecosystem management, elements of ecosystem approach, ecosystem dynamics and resilience, adaptive management, future directions in ecosystem-based conservation, case studies

3 Protected areas: definition, importance, current state of protected areas, goals, limitation protected areas, IUCN categories of protected areas (definition and objectives), management effectiveness of protected areas, designs of protected areas, gap analysis, principles and tools of systematic conservation planning, confronting threats in protected areas, incorporating social and cultural contexts Restoration of damaged ecosystems and endangered species: definition of ecological restoration, steps in designing and implementing ecological restoration, restoration challenges, animal reintroduction: concepts, IUCN guidelines, genetic consideration in reintroduction, animal reintroduction in Nepal, Community-based conservation: Community participation, community mobilization in biodiversity conservation, community-based conservation in Nepal Indigenous knowledge and practices in biodiversity conservation: Recoupling culture and environment, culture and holistic management Biodiversity conservation in Nepal: Shifting paradigm in biodiversity conservation in Nepal; Protected areas of Nepal: types, objectives, features, protected area network of Nepal; Conservation management in buffer zone: definition of buffer zone, importance of buffer zone, buffer zone management, Conservation outside protected areas: Challenges and opportunities; Conservation of agro-biodiversity; Community forestry: contribution in biodiversity conservation Conservation ethics: Biocentrism, ecocentrism, anthropocentrism; Principles of sustainable living. Unit 5: Conservation and Sustainable Development 20 hrs Nexus between development and biodiversity conservation, Ecological economics and biodiversity conservation; Sustainable development: definition, goals, principles, pillars and indicators; Sustainable conservation: Integrated conservation and development projects (ICDPs); ecological principles of sustainability, Ecotourism: definition, principles and sustainability; Ecotourism as source of conservation finance, planning ecotourism development for biodiversity conservation; Wildlife tourism; definition of green economy, Green economy and sustainable development; Clean Development Mechanism (CDM): REDD, REDD+ and payment for carbon; Carbon sequestration: Concept, mechanism, driving factors of carbon sequestration. Unit 6: Conservation Policies 25 hrs Conservation challenges in 21st century: Problems of commons; Integration of conservation science and policy; Use of scientific knowledge in conservation, scientific uncertainty and risk; International policy for management of global commons: Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD): features, principles, objectives, importance and implementation status in Nepal, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) principles, context and history, working mechanisms of CITES, CITES appendices, pitfalls of CITES implementation in Nepal, Ramsar Convention: features, designation and management of Ramsar sites, concepts of wise use and international cooperation, Ramsar sites of Nepal; Aichi Target; Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and Patent Rights (PR): concept, World Intellectual Property Organization, patentability, IPR and biodiversity conservation, bioprospecting, biopiracy; Advanced Informed Agreement (AIA). National policy for conservation of biological diversity in Nepal; National Conservation Strategy 1988, Master Plan for Forestry Sector 1989, Nepal s Environmental Policy and Action Plan 1993, Legislation, NPWC Act 1973, Forest Act 1993,

4 Biodiversity Conservation Strategy; Institutional arrangements for biodiversity conservation in Nepal; Effectiveness of conservation policies on biodiversity conservation

5 Question pattern Units Lecture hrs (marks weightage) Long (10) Short (5) Differentiate (2) Total marks 1 15 (10) (20) (20) (20) (13.3) (16.7) Total no of Total marks Remarks Choice to be given to any two of same unit 8 out of 10 to be solved; 2 extra can be asked from any unit All compulsory