Biodiversity essentially refers to all aspects of variability evident in the living world, including diversity within and between individuals, populations, species, communities and ecosystems. Biodiversity trends are mainly assessed in terms of declining populations and species, either individually or collectively, when manifest of loss of habitants or reduction in the area of ecosystems. The challenges to biodiversity have been explicit from different facts and figures suggesting that many species are no longer found throughout their former ranges, and may only occur in reduced numbers. Many high value fish have shown considerable decline mainly owing to over exploitation. Conservation and management of biodiversity is a priority concern in environmental as well as development policies world-wide. This is a due to the increasing growing need for maintaining ecological balance reserve. Besides, human exploitation beyond a concerning limit may pose challenges to the global wealth of biodiversity every now and then. Against this backdrop, the book attempts to capture some of the issues pertaining to biodiversity conservation and management. The book also highlights the existing and potential role of society, including different institutional arrangements in the context of conservation and management of biodiversity. The book emphasises on these aspects through various country experiences.
Azmal Hussain holds a doctorate degree in Anthropology from Gauhati University. He has handled several action and research ventures independently for different organisations working for the underprivileged and particularly addressing issues like nutrition and education with a focus on women and children. He is also commissioned as a research and documentation expert in the projects sponsored by different development agencies like Lutheran World Relief, Catholic Relief Services, Oxfam, UNICEF etc. Presently, he is working as a Faculty Associate at Icfai Business School Research Center, Kolkata. He has already edited a few books in the areas like health, nutrition and community development, published by the Icfai University Press.