Habitat Conservation

Habitat Conservation Methods

In order to sustain the natural cycle, we must give back to nature in some form. Some typical habitat conservation methods include corridor creation between habitats or establishing protected areas. Entirely new habitats can also be created for conservation purposes.

Habitat conservation can be achieved with the help of social-economic schemes.

• Land-buying schemes (e.g. buying land to set aside for conservation),

• voluntary conservation schemes (e.g. maintaining hedgerows on fields),

• or the establishment of conservation laws (e.g. which affect public access and activities within a protected site).

Direct Methods of Habitat Conservation

Direct methods aim to modify or alter features to create positive change directly.

• Habitat corridors are strips of land that connect two larger habitat areas. They can be used to help species move between habitat patches or to help prevent inbreeding by providing a larger gene pool.

• Habitat banks involve setting aside land for the exclusive use of wildlife. They may exclude human uses of the land, which can cause conflicts.

• Protected areas can be land, ocean and even flying corridors. They can range in size from small nature reserves to large national parks and cross-continental agreements (e.g. in the case of bird migration paths). Protected areas are generally successful at preserving habitats.

• Land ownership is when private and public land can be used for conservation, such as by purchasing land to protect it. In the UK, the Woodland Trust, RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) and the National Trust may buy land for conservation.

Indirect Methods of Habitat Conservation

• Biodiversity laws (legal protection of species) involve the protection of one or multiple organisms. By extension, this includes the critical habitats that they use or transit through.

• The rural community acts, and agriculture and fishing activities regulations influence the quality of natural habitats by preventing or allowing humans to harvest, hunt, etc., the species present.

• Landscape conservation (the protection of geological and landscape features) may target specific rocky formations in a habitat, such as limestone cave formations, thus granting an area protection status. However, the protected status may not directly extend to biodiversity.

  Some may call this... putting limestone in the limelight!

• Carbon stock reserves are areas protected for their capacity to sequester GHGs (greenhouse gases), especially carbon. Carbon dioxide can be efficiently sequestered by mangroves, young forests, bamboo forests or peatlands, thus granting them protection status and making them popular choices for carbon offset projects.

Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations

In the United Kingdom, habitat conservation is governed by several laws and regulations. The Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981 is the primary piece of legislation that protects native flora and fauna. The Act prohibits the intentional destruction of habitat and requires landowners to take measures to prevent habitat loss on their property. In addition, some European directives provide habitat protection, including the Habitats Directive and the Birds Directive. Some aim to protect habitat resources, such as the Water Framework Directive.

There may be regional differences in how these Directives are adopted and implemented, depending on whether the activities take place in Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland or England.

Significantly protected habitats in the UK can be categorised as follows:

• SSSIs - Sites of Special Scientific Interest (e.g. The West Pennine Moors)

• NNRs - National Nature Reserves (e.g. Ingleborough)

• SPAs - Special Areas of Conservation (e.g. Liverpool Bay)

• Ramsar sites - Wetlands of international importance (e.g. Avon valley)

The Importance of Habitat Conservation

There are many reasons why habitat conservation is essential:

1. It helps preserve biodiversity, which is essential for the health of ecosystems and humans.

2. It can help to mitigate the effects of climate change by providing refuge for plants and animals as their habitats shift.

3. Habitat conservation also has a number of social and economic benefits, such as providing recreation opportunities and supporting local economies.

Let's start with the 4 Es.

• Ethical - the rights of the creatures to live and their fair treatment.

• Ecological - 68% of all animal populations have plummeted since 19702. It is vital to save rare or endemic species and to prevent the loss of genetic material and trophic collapses.

• Environmental - preventing the worsening of climate change and the loss of ecosystem services.

• (Social) Economic - preventing loss of livelihoods and mass migration of people who depend on natural areas for food and shelter, e.g. hunter-gatherer societies.

Last but not least, habitat conservation grants us the following:

• Resources including clean water, clean air, energy, food, existing and new medicines, and genetic resources.

Despite knowing its advantages, development projects do not often prioritise habitat conservation or creation.

Habitat Conservation Examples

Specific habitats require special conservation efforts. The range of habitats can include:

• Temperate broadleaf woodland comprised of deciduous tree species that lose their leaves each year, e.g. Atlantic hazelwood.

• Tropical rainforests comprised of tropical tree species adapted to high temperatures and humidity, e.g. Australian Daintree rainforest.

• Coral reefs comprised of tiny coral polyps that build impressive limestone structures (the coral skeleton), e.g. gulf of Eilat Reefs, Israel.

• Oceanic islands comprised entirely of isolated islands or clusters in the ocean, e.g. Polynesian Pitcairn and Rapa Nui.

• Glacial landscapes comprised of rocky formations or bare ground covered in snow and ice, and extreme (cold) temperatures, e.g. Cape Crozier, Antarctica.

However, the increased habitat destruction and fragmentation rate, coupled with underfunded conservation efforts, means that some species cannot survive in the wild anymore:

• South-Asian tigers have entirely perished in Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, even from within national parks meant to protect them, such as the Nam Et-Phou Louey National Protected Area.

• Roaming or migratory species worldwide, including sturgeons, river dolphins and salmonoid fishes, have collapsed due to river fragmentation through hydroelectric constructions.

The River Thames is considered a successful habitat conservation story for 2021 as "it passed its annual health check". The Zoological Society of London reported significant improvements in its water quality after stating that "60 years ago, the river was declared 'toxic' due to industrial pollution."⁴ Increasing dissolved oxygen concentration levels in the river are a positive change, as aquatic species can breathe or photosynthesise more efficiently.

Habitat Creation and Management

Habitat management can be done by manipulating the environment to maintain habitat suitability for species of concern.

Methods to maintain habitat suitability include:

• Provision of abiotic features: water, heat, minerals, pH control, etc.

• Control of biotic features: food availability, control of pathogens, and of prey and predator numbers.

• Ring barking: forests need at least a third of their areas covered in decaying matter. Ring-barking involves the removal of the bark of a tree in a circle, causing the tree to deteriorate that way slowly. This slow selective elimination of trees ensures the survival of saprophytic species (who feed on the dead matter).

• Seed sowing: spreading plant seeds mixtures.

• Grazing: conservation grazing with selected animal species (native cattle breed) to maintain habitats such as meadows.

• Plagioclimax maintenance - allowing changes to occur within a habitat naturally meant to evolve in size, ecological capacity and quality, etc.

Hopefully, conserving an entire habitat doesn't look like a titanic piece of work anymore! We have now learned what contributes to efficient (as well as inefficient) conservation. The habitats and their inner workings are like puzzle pieces we must put together to form the most interactive and beautiful works of art.