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Rescuing rainforests

Rainforests are acknowledged treasures of nature, harbouring remarkably diverse life forms. Many of these forests, including those in India’s Western Ghats and the North-East, are priority conservation sites because of their deserved reputation as biodiversity hotspots. New research on their biodiversity characteristics and the threat posed by global warming suggests that conservation efforts need to be intensified. Rainforests are known to harbour the maximum number of species for a given area. Researchers writing in Nature have proposed, on the basis of studies done in New Guinea, that lowland forests have less insect diversity than believed earlier; this implies that the current estimate of sev eral million (30 million, according to some estimates) species of insects and other invertebrates on earth will need review. At the same time, the research appears to reinforce the reputation of rainforests on the foothills of mountains (upland) as the most biodiverse habitat. The importance of insects and other similar lower life forms is eloquently brought out by the Pulitzer prize-winning naturalist E.O. Wilson thus: “If they were to disappear, I doubt that the human species could last more than a few months.”

Although considered vital, rainforests are losing out to habitat destruction in many countries. Where they survive, their ability to capture atmospheric carbon dioxide is likely to diminish as global warming affects the plant food production cycle, says Nature. The Western Ghats are in danger of losing a significant extent of evergreen forest to hydroelectric projects. There is undue haste in pressing ahead with the 163 megawatt hydroelectric project in the rainforest-encircled Cha lakudy river basin despite the caution advocated by scientists. The National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources has recommended a sanctuary for the Chalakudy river to support its fish diversity, including species recorded only recently. A comprehensive assessment of other life forms, including insects, has not even begun here. Everything points to the need for greater protection to these and other rainforests.

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