1.Read the following passage and answer the two items that follow. Your answers to these items should be based on the passage only.
Passage
Ecological -research over the last quarter of the century has established the deleterious effects ofhabitat fragmentation due to mining, highways and such other intrusions on forests. When a largeblock of forests gets fragmented into smaller bits, the edges of all these bits come into contact withhuman activities resulting in the degradation of the entire forests. Continuity of forested landscapesand corridors gets disrupted 'affecting several extinction-prone species of wildlife. Habitatfragmentation, is therefore considered as the most serious threat to biodiversity conservation. Adhoc grants of forest lands to mining companies coupled with rampant, illegal mining is aggravatingthis threat.
What is the central focus of this passage?