question_answer

(i) Religious beliefs proved to be helpful in the conservation of biodiversity. Comment?

(ii) What are the different zones of a biosphere reserve?

Answer:

(i) Religious beliefs tremendously help in preserving biodiversity.

Some plants are considered sacred and propagated for the religious ceremonies. In some tribes, axe is not used because of the religious sanctity related to them. In some areas, temples are generally surrounded by deodar forests and are protected by the people of that area.

A number of water bodies are also held sacred, e.g. Pushkar lake in Rajasthan. Their aquatic flora and fauna are protected from exploitation.

(ii) Biosphere reserves are large protected land areas for preserving genetic diversity of an ecosystem.

A biosphere reserve consists of three zones.

(a) Core zone where no human activity is allowed.

(b) Buffer zone surrounds core zone where limited human activity is permitted like research and education.

(c) Transition zone is the outermost part where an active interaction occurs between the management and local people, e.g. cropping recreation, settlements, etc.