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Biodiversity can be bad: Ecosystem disservices and their impact on poverty Lykke E. Andersen Institute for Advanced Development Studies (Fundación INESAD) La Paz, Bolivia Definition of ecoystem disservices: “The conditions and processes through which natural ecosystems, and the species that make them up, harm people and reduce human well-being.” Definition of ecoystem disservices: Both ecosystem services and disservices are human centered concepts. Somebody somewhere has to benefit from the underlying biophysical processes for them to turn into ecosystem services, and, equivalently, somebody would have to suffer from the biophysical processes for them to turn into a disservice. Thus, it is the interaction between humans and nature that creates both ecosystem services and disservices. Definition of ecoystem disservices: Problem: It is difficult to draw a clear line between humans and nature and between ecosystem services and disservices, as we all depend on a myriad of other species for our basic survival. Indeed, it has been estimated that about 90% of the cells in and on our bodies are non-human, and without those we could not survive. Definition of ecoystem disservices: Two main categories: A) Ecosystem disservices that affect human health and thus have a direct effect on human wellbeing. B) Ecosystem disservices that adversely affect agricultural activities and thus indirectly affect human well-being through food security and income. A) Ecoystem disservices and human health: The bacteria Yersinia pestis was behind the Black Death, one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, killing 30-60% of Europe’s population in the 14th century. About 90% of the original population of South America died from epidemic diseases in the few decades following European colonization. The H1N1 influenza virus was behind the 1918 Flu Pandemic which infected 500 million people across the world and killed more than 50 million. Almost 78 million people have been infected with the HIV virus since the beginning of the epidemic and about 39 million people have died of HIV. About a third of the world’s population is infected by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which may result in tuberculosis, the secondmost common cause of death from infectious disease (after those due to HIV/AIDS) resulting in about 1.5 million deaths every year. Approximately 2 billion people are infected with the Hepatitis B virus, and more than 780,000 people die every year due to the acute or chronic consequences of hepatitis B. Several hundred million people suffer from malaria and about half a million children die from it every year. Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites, which are spread to people through the bites of infected Anopheles mosquitoes. Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever is caused by a mosquito borne virus, which has spread dramatically in recent decades. More than 2.5 billion people – over 40% of the world's population – are now at risk from dengue. WHO currently estimates there may be 50– 100 million dengue infections worldwide every year. About 2.5% of those affected die. Smallpox was responsible for an estimated 300–500 million deaths during the 20th century. Eradicated 1980. Pathogens constantly change their genetic make-up, which challenges the development of vaccines and treatments. From an evolutionary perspective, viruses and bacteria are extremely fit, and it is unlikely that human ingenuity will ever get the better of them. Whenever we get one contagious disease under control, another will pop up. The latest scare is the Ebola virus, which has a case fatality rate close to 90%. Almost 20,000 cases have been reported by now, mostly concentrated in Sierra Leone and Liberia. B) Ecoystem disservices and agriculture: The Irish Potato Famine, which killed about a million persons in Ireland and caused another million to emigrate around 1845, was caused by a potato blight fungus. The Irish population was reduced by 20-25% during the period 1845 -1852. Rice is the most important crop in the world, both in terms of quantity and value, but researchers have estimated that farmers on average lose 37% of their rice production to pests and diseases ( USD 100 billion per year). Cattle-plague, caused by the rinderpest virus, used to be the most dreaded bovine plague causing widespread famine in cattle dependent regions. For example, an outbreak in the 1890s killed 80 to 90% of all cattle in southern Africa. Eradicated 2011. Weeds are a universal problem in agriculture, often economically more important than insects, fungi or other pest organisms. Weeds compete with crops to get access to vital sunlight, water and soil nutrients. Farmers worldwide spend about US$ 80 billion per year on pesticides. Ecoystem disservices and poverty: Africa is the continent that suffers most from health related ecosystem disservices. More than 80% of all cases of malaria and AIDS occur in Africa, although the African population only constitutes about 15% of the World population. In the African region, 46% of all deaths are children aged under 15 years, whereas in the high-income countries, only 1% of deaths are children. The majority of child deaths can be attributed to ecosystem disservices, as they are caused principally by infectious and parasitic diseases, such as pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria, AIDS and measles. Number of child deaths due to infectious and parasitic diseases (per million children) High income countries Middle income countries Low income countries 35 679 4536 Strong correlation between ecosystem disservices and poverty Causal relationship? Example 1: Some ecosystem disservices can be controlled by relatively simple measures that become possible, and even standard, as populations become richer and escape extreme poverty. Diarrheal diseases, for example, can be almost completely controlled by a combination of safe piped water, sanitation systems, basic education, and oral re-hydration therapy, thus preventing millions of deaths per year. POVERTY ECOSYSTEM DISSERVICES Causal relationship? Example 2: Gallup & Sachs (2001) found evidence of a malaria causing poverty. They ran cross-country income regressions for the 1965–1990 period and found that countries with intensive malaria grew 1.3% less per person per year (controlling for other factors such as initial poverty, economic policy, tropical location, and life expectancy). ECOSYSTEM DISSERVICES POVERTY Causal relationship? Example 3: Smallpox hit poor and rich indiscriminately. The fact that smallpox also affected the rich may be one of the reasons why it could be successfully eradicated. Catherine the Great of Russia (ruling the Russian Empire 1762 to 1796) was so scared of smallpox that she decided to have first herself inoculated, the her son, and then 2 million other russians (despite inoculation being considered quite a controversial method at the time). ECOSYSTEM DISSERVICES POVERTY Causal relationship? Example 4: In some cases, increased prosperity may increase the severity of some ecosystem services. • Early stages of urbanization (high population density without basic services) may facilitate the spread of contagious diseases. • The crowded animal living conditions implied by industrial scale farming promote the spread of disease. • Ubiquitous air travel may also promote the rapid spread of contagious diseases across the globe. PROSPERITY ECOSYSTEM DISSERVICES Conclusions and recommendations It is the interaction between humans and nature that creates both ecosystem services and disservices. We need to manage that interaction in ways that maximize the positive and vital services we receive from nature while minimizing the ecosystem disservices. Conclusions and recommendations Maximize ecosystem services: • Take care of the oceans. • Don’t contaminate the limited supply of fresh water. • Plant as many trees as possible. Conclusions and recommendations Minimize ecosystem disservices: • Vaccinate against dreadful diseases. • Take advantage of GMO technology to make crops resistant to pests and diseases. • Promote green, clean cities. Thank you! Comments and suggestions welcome: [email protected]