Question

Question: which among the following correctly defines Global $200$?
A. An annual list of top-ranking $200$ companies released by Forbes magazine.
B. List of $200$ world heritage sites released by UNESCO
C. List of $200$ cities which are strategic importance
D. List of $200$ Ecoregions identified by the world wildlife fund (WWF) as priorities for conservation

Answer 1

The World Wide Fund for Nature-India (WWF India) was established with the aim of protecting the country's wildlife and natural habitats. The Global $200$ is a list of ecoregions that have been designated as protection priorities by WWF.

Complete answer: According to WWF, an ecoregion is defined as "a relatively large unit of land or water containing distinct natural community groups that share most of their species dynamics and environmental conditions". Based on the complete list of ecoregions, the Global $200$ includes all major habitat types (biomes), all ecosystem types and species from each major habitat type. It focuses on each major habitat type on each continent (for example, tropical forests or coral reefs). They have classified each ecoregion on earth into a system of $30$ biomes and biogeographic areas to facilitate the current analysis. Biodiversity characteristics were compared between ecoregions to assess independence or specificity. These characteristics include biodiversity, endemic species, higher taxa, unusual ecological or evolutionary phenomena, and global habitat rarity. This process resulted in $238$ ecoregions - Global $200$ - comprising $142$ terrestrials, $53$ freshwaters and $43$ marine ecoregions. Effective conservation in this ecoregion will help maintain the most extraordinary and representative habitat of the planet's biodiversity.
Thus, the option (D) is the correct answer.

Note: Some habitats such as Mediterranean forests, bush biomes have been classified as more threatened than tropical forests and therefore require joint protective measures. The Global $200$ ecoregions can also help identify the origins of invasive species and provide insight into how to slow or limit their penetration.