Chapter 5: Wonder in the West

Introduction

•    Gujarat is fortunate to have a diverse ecosystem that supports a large number of wildlife species. The State is home to numerous migrating birds, unique and endangered species of flora and animals, and many ecological hotspots. 
•    The presence of 7,500 species of flora and fauna, of which 2,550 are angiosperms and 1,366 are vertebrate species, demonstrates Gujarat's biodiversity's richness. (of which the 574 are bird species and the rest  are the mammals, reptiles, amphibians, fish, etc.). 
•    The state of Gujarat is home to various biodiversity hotspots, including the Northern Western Ghat in South Gujarat, the Little Rann of Kutch, the Greater Rann of Kutch, Jamnagar's Marine National Park, the marshes and woods of Porbandar's Barda Sanctuary, and the Velavadar, Thol Lake, and Nalsarovar grasslands.
•    The last remaining population of Asiatic lions in the world resides in the Gir National Forest.
•    Gujarat includes four Ramsar sites, including the Wadhvana wetland near Vadodara, the Khijadia Sanctuary near Jamnagar, and the Nalsarovar and Thol Bird Sanctuaries close to Ahmedabad.

Gujarat Ecological Research and Education (GEER)

•    A Natural History Museum opened in Gandhinagar in 1977. Later, this was incorporated into the June 1982-founded Gujarat Ecological Education and Research (GEER) Foundation.
•    Given the knowledge of the GEER Foundation, the Long Term Ecological Observatories (LTEO) Project which was given under the Climate Change Action Program. 
•    In Paris in December 2015, during the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP) of the UNFCC, this LTEO project was unveiled.
•    This project's primary goal is to understand the biophysical and human-caused drivers of ecosystems in a few different biomes, as well as how they affect social-ecological responses.
•    Additionally, the GEER Foundation contributed to the development of the "Cactus Garden" near the Kevadia "Statue of Unity." It is described as a "Grand Architectural Greenhouse" with 450 kinds of cacti and succulents from 17 different nations, including India.

Conclusion:

•    The balance between technological advancement and nature is more important than ever because industrialization has ruined ecosystems all over the world, which has an effect on humanity. Any intentional or unheard-of imbalance in biodiversity disrupts its surrounds, causing an ecosystem to become unbalanced, which consequently affects food chains and the food web. Several governments have deliberated and developed policies to safeguard the biodiversity of their respective areas after realising the sensitivity of the overall impacts.