Peruvian Biodiversity: Conservation and Biotechnology

Biodiversity Conservation: In Situ and Ex Situ

Ex Situ Conservation

This method involves preserving genetic material outside of the natural environment, such as in gene banks, seed banks, embryo and sperm banks, and tissue culture facilities. While expensive due to the specialized infrastructure required, ex situ conservation allows for the preservation of specific varieties.

In Situ Conservation

In Situ conservation focuses on preserving biodiversity within natural areas. This involves establishing protected areas and collaborating with local communities, particularly farmers, to maintain local genetic material. This approach includes studying varieties in different locations, supporting farmers, and recognizing their efforts in preserving genetic diversity.

Peru's Diverse Regions and Ecosystems

Neotropical Region

Amazon Domain

This domain encompasses the Amazon rainforest, including ecoregions with low jungle, tropical Pacific warm valleys, high forests, deserts, and equatorial dry forests.

Andean-Patagonian Domain

This domain includes the highland ecosystems, coastal deserts, mountain steppes, and western slopes.

Chaco Domain

Characterized by the savanna ecoregion with palm trees.

Ocean Region

Tropical Ocean Domain

Encompasses the tropical sea ecoregion.

Peruvian-Chilean Oceanic Domain

Characterized by the cold Peruvian Current. Further classification based on habitats and ecosystems is possible, though this area requires more research. For example, the coastal desert ecoregion can be further divided into distinct ecosystems: desert, coastal rivers, freshwater marshes, freshwater lakes, wetlands, locust bean Gramadal, gallery forests, and coastal hills (with trees, shrubs, herbs, succulents, cacti, etc.).

The Importance of Biodiversity

Biodiversity holds significant current and future importance for several reasons:

• Current and Potential Use: Biodiversity and biological resources are essential for humanity.
• Biosphere Maintenance: Biodiversity is crucial for maintaining a biosphere capable of supporting human life.
• Biodiversity Preservation: Maintaining biodiversity itself, including all living species, is vital.

Developing Scientific and Technological Capacity

The global race for biodiversity resources, particularly for pharmacological and genetic purposes, necessitates that Peru strengthens its scientific and technological capabilities. Improving national capacity in biotechnology is critical. Key aspects include:

• Biotechnology Advancement: Improving and developing biotechnology is essential.
• Private Sector Involvement: Encouraging participation from domestic private enterprises is crucial.
• National Policies and Strategies: Structuring national policies and strategies is fundamental for scientific and technological development.
• Biodiversity Inventory: A national inventory of biodiversity resources is urgently needed to gain a comprehensive overview and prioritize species and genetic resources.

Biotechnology and its Role

Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that draws on knowledge from various disciplines (molecular biology, biochemistry, bioengineering, plant biology, microbiology, etc.). Its goal is to develop clean, competitive technologies that utilize living organisms and their products to address economic challenges in agriculture, health, environment, and industrial pollution.

Biodiversity as a Resource

A certain level of biodiversity is essential for human life, both to maintain the biosphere and to provide resources for agriculture and other needs. Biodiversity is a direct source of food and forms the basis of agriculture (crops), livestock (breeds), and harvesting (fishing, hunting, extraction). Peru utilizes 787 native plant species for food, a small fraction of which are globally significant. Dozens of animal species are consumed, but only a small percentage have global nutritional importance. Few are managed domestically, and even fewer are globally significant.

Biodiversity is also crucial for pharmaceuticals, providing medicines for humans and animals. Globally, thousands of plants and animals are used medicinally, with 80% of people in developing countries relying solely on them. Around 90 plant species produce approximately 120 medicinal compounds used worldwide.

In Peru, approximately 4,400 native plant species are used for 48 different purposes (food, medicine, fibers, dyes, timber, firewood, etc.), contributing an estimated 10% of the GDP (around 4 billion/year).

Biodiversity and the Biosphere

Human activities impact the global biosphere, and understanding how biodiversity loss contributes to these changes is crucial. One significant effect is the accumulation of CO2 in the atmosphere and subsequent warming, with largely unpredictable consequences. Forest conservation and reforestation are vital for maintaining and securing excess carbon.

Other Values of Biodiversity

While only a small part of biological diversity has current economic value, this alone doesn't justify its conservation. Ethical and aesthetic values also underscore the importance of biodiversity.