Now Reading: Nine anchor species can boost biodiversity and carbon storage
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Nine anchor species can boost biodiversity and carbon storage
New research in Conservation Letters identifies nine ‘anchor species’ whose habitat protection could preserve over 700 vertebrate species and around 1.1 gigatonnes of above-ground carbon across India. The species include sambar deer,…
The Story in Brief
New research in Conservation Letters identifies nine ‘anchor species’ whose habitat protection could preserve over 700 vertebrate species and around 1.1 gigatonnes of above-ground carbon across India. The species include sambar deer, dhole, king cobra, gaur, sloth bear, Indian pangolin, great hornbill, tiger and leopard. Protecting any one of these habitats yields combined biodiversity and climate benefits, the study finds.
India faces growing pressure to meet the global 30×30 target, yet only about 5 per cent of its land is currently protected. Co-author Aakash Lamba of the National University of Singapore says the model challenges the assumption that tigers are the only high-impact conservation investment, showing that other charismatic species can generate equal or greater returns.
The Indian Opinion
The study punctures the notion that only tiger conservation matters for forests and carbon. But the temptation to swap one charismatic species for another misses the point: habitat protection must be ecosystem-wide. A concrete test will be whether India’s planned protected-area expansion under the 30×30 goal adopts a species-centred approach or continues to prioritise a single flagship species.
Source: india.mongabay.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
