Ex situ conservation
Topic: Biodiversity and its Conservation · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 14 "Biodiversity and Conservation"
Meaning
Ex situ conservation means protecting a species outside its natural home ("ex situ" means "off site"). Its methods include:
- zoos, under the Central Zoo Authority
- botanical gardens
- seed and gene banks
- captive breeding (breeding animals in care and later releasing some into the wild)
It works as a safety net when a species is close to vanishing in the wild. It also preserves crop and livestock varieties and their wild relatives.
Example
The National Gene Bank at NBPGR, New Delhi, stores seeds of crop varieties. The red panda is bred at the Darjeeling zoo. Around the world, the Svalbard Seed Vault (Norway, 2008) stores backup seeds.
Don't confuse with
- In situ conservation: protects species in their natural habitat, such as national parks. It keeps whole ecosystems and evolution running, which ex situ methods cannot do.
Related concepts
- Biodiversity conservation
- In situ conservation
- World Conservation Strategy
- Convention on Biological Diversity
- Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety
- Nagoya Protocol
- Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
- 30 by 30 target
- CITES
- Convention on Migratory Species