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Several
organizations have been declared
as important areas for
biodiversity. For example, Plantlife International has
highlighted the importance of
Important Plant Areas (IPAs),
BirdLife International has given
special emphasis to site
protection through Important
Bird Areas (IBAs) and Endemic
Bird Areas (EBAs), Birdlife
International is dedicated to
special sites for invertebrate
life, the MacArthur Foundation has
declared various nature-rich
geographic regions, Conservation
International has declared large
geographic areas as
biodiversity hotspots and on a
smaller scale, Key Biodiversity
Areas (IBAs, IPAs, Ramsar Sites
- all qualify to be KBAs but not
vice-versa), WWF has identified
the world's most important
eco-regions for biodiversity
and so on. Many of these are
complimentary to each other and
important conservation
activities are ongoing to safe
guard these sites and species
therein.
At a much reduced
scale and a new area for
conservation, Himalayan Nature
has initiated the Special
Conservation Sites (SCS) program. Sites
will identify plants or places
that support or may support a
wealth of other forms of life. A
single tree or a very small area
(as for Plantlife International)
can be designated as SCS. If spread to many sites,
this idea will
save a significant amount of
biodiversity and will mostly be implemented outside protected
areas and close to human
settlements. |