Topic: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.
5. What are Kelp forests? Write about their ecological and economic importance. Examine the various threats faced by these forests and possible conservation strategies to safeguard them with a special emphasis on the role indigenous knowledge could play in the conservation efforts. (250 words)
Difficulty level: Moderate
Reference: Down to Earth
Why the question:
Even as large underwater forests of kelp, brown marine algae seaweeds, are declining by roughly 1.8 per cent annually, there is little information on how local conditions impact their response to global stress factors.
Key Demand of the question:
To write about Kelp forests, their ecological and economic importance and strategies needed for their conservation.
Directive word:
Examine – When asked to ‘Examine’, we must investigate the topic (content words) in detail, inspect it, investigate it and establish the key facts and issues related to the topic in question. While doing so we should explain why these facts and issues are important and their implications.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Begin by defining Kelp forests.
Body:
First, write about the economic significance of Kelp forests – fisheries, aquaculture and recreational activities etc.
Next, write about the ecological significance of Kelp forests – ecosystem services, carbon sequestration etc.
Next, write about the various threats faced by Kelp forests – climate change, eutrophication and shoreline development, among other human-induced stressors.
Next, write about the conservation strategies needed to protect Kelp forests and role that Indigenous knowledge can play in this regard.
Conclusion:
Conclude by writing a way forward.
