Paragraph: Maintaining an ecosystem just to conserve biodiversity will affect its commercial potential as well as the livelihoods dependent on the ecosystem.
Maintaining an ecosystem just to conserve biodiversity will affect its commercial potential as well as the livelihoods dependent on the ecosystem. There is also a conflict between using an ecosystem only for livelihoods, for commercial exploitation, or strictly for conservation. Deforestation caused due to commercial exploitation will lead to indirect harm like floods, siltation problems and microclimatic instability, apart from adversely affecting livelihoods dependent on forests. These conflicts are particularly acute in developing countries where the dependence of people on the ecosystem is significant, and commercial exploitation has the potential to boost national income.
Q1. Which one of the following statements best reflects the critical message conveyed by the author of the passage?
(a) Conservation of biodiversity is not an issue to be worried about when some people depend on ecosystems for their livelihoods.
(b) Commercial exploitation of forests goes against the fundamental rights of the people dependent on forests for food and shelter.
(c) Sustenance of livelihood and degradation of ecosystem while being together exacerbate one another, leading to conflicts and imbalance.
(d) Commercial exploitation of ecosystems should be completely stopped.
Q2. With reference to above passage, the following assumptions have been made:
I. No country needs to depend on ecosystems to boost national income.
II. Resource-rich countries need to share their resources with those of scant resources so as to prevent the degradation of ecosystems.
Which of the above assumptions is/are valid?
(a) I only
(b) II only
(c) Both I and II
(d) Neither I nor II
UPSC Prelims 2025 CSAT
Q1. Correct Option: (c) Sustenance of livelihood and degradation of ecosystem while being together exacerbate one another, leading to conflicts and imbalance.
Explanation: The passage clearly highlights the conflict between conservation, livelihoods, and commercial exploitation. It emphasizes that maintaining ecosystems solely for biodiversity conservation can negatively impact livelihoods and commercial potential. Conversely, commercial exploitation can lead to environmental degradation, indirectly harming livelihoods through floods, siltation, and climate instability. Thus, the critical message conveyed is that livelihood sustenance and ecosystem degradation are interconnected and intensify each other’s negative impacts, causing conflicts and imbalance. Option (c) accurately captures this central idea.
Option (a) is incorrect because the author does not dismiss biodiversity conservation as unimportant. Option (b) is incorrect because the passage does not explicitly mention fundamental rights violations. Option (d) is incorrect because the author does not advocate completely stopping commercial exploitation but rather highlights the conflicts arising from it.
Q2. Correct Option: (d) Neither I nor II
Explanation: Assumption I (“No country needs to depend on ecosystems to boost national income.”) is invalid because the passage explicitly states that commercial exploitation of ecosystems has the potential to boost national income, especially in developing countries. Thus, the passage acknowledges that countries do depend on ecosystems economically.
Assumption II (“Resource-rich countries need to share their resources with those of scant resources so as to prevent the degradation of ecosystems.”) is also invalid because the passage does not discuss or imply any international resource-sharing arrangement or cooperation between resource-rich and resource-poor countries.
Therefore, neither assumption I nor assumption II is valid based on the given passage.
