Planning conservation strategies K.N. Ganeshaiah Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK Bangalore ganesh@atree.frlht.ernet.in R. Uma Shaanker Department of Crop Physiology, University of Agricultural Sciences, GKVK Bangalore. Strategies to conserve the biodiversity of the country should be based on development of country-wide maps for conservation. Recent developments in GIS and RS techniques have offered fresh opportunities to address more efficiently the ecological and conservation issues. These tools have been specifically useful in understanding the patterns of spatial distribution of the biological resources, in modelling the impact of various factors on patterns of loss of biodiversity and in monitoring forest ecosystems. We have begun working on a range of issues in collaboration with several organizations¹. These programmes have been partly or completely sponsored by several funding agencies². Developing threat maps for the Sanctuaries and National Parks.  Fig.1: Threat map of Biligri Rangaswamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary A countrywide network of National parks, Wild life Sanctuaries and Forest Reserves constitutes the predominant mode through which our biological diversity is being presently conserved. Although there are generic rules and norms defined to offer protection to these conservation sites, several local specific stresses and problems threaten their ecosystems and the very life in them. Consequently there is a need to develop site specific protection protocols based on threats and stresses experienced by, and the pattern of spatial distribution of diversity in, these conservation sites. We have been attempting to develop methodologies for preparing such threat- or stress- maps of the sanctuaries. The stress is mostly assumed to be due to any activity that might affect the forest ecosystem: human pressures from within and outside, encroachments, cultivation, harvesting of the forest products, grazing and plantations, any developmental activities such as laying roads, constructions and quarrying. We have been quantifying and mapping these stress factors of the sanctuaries. For instance, dividing the entire area of Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple (BRT) wild life sanctuary, in to square grids as small as 30 hectares, we assumed that each grid is likely to be impacted by any of these activities with in a radius of 3.00 kms, with the intensity of impact decreasing inversely with the distance of the activity from the grid. We also assumed that certain impacts are shaped by the local geographic features of the grid eg., harvesting and encroachment negatively by the slope. We also overlaid on these factors the intensity of fire and weeds. The impact values of all the grids are thus comp uted and thematic stress maps are developed. These threat maps are further discussed with the officials from the forest department and the stakeholders for their inputs and their perception of the threats are also incorporated in to these maps. Eventually such maps will be useful in developing the site specific management plans for different sanctuaries and national parks especially when used with the maps depicting the distribution of the biological richness of the sites. Classification of Forest Vegetation 
Fig.1: Land cover change in Western Ghats by 2020.
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