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The importance of maintaining biodiversity
Objective
Discuss the importance of the maintenance of biodiversity (Intrinsic, direct and indirect values, including medicine, natural products, tourism)
The value of biodiversity
The first category comprise biological values that embraced aspects ranging from
1.
biodiversity of wild systems
2. a broad group of direct value to humans called ecosystem services
contributions to biotechnology and bioremediation (The use of organisms, usually microorganisms, to
break down pollutants in soil, air or groundwater
The second category comprise
•
social and cultural values
•
emphasis on aesthetic appreciation
•
a sense of place
the deep emotions associated with ethics and religion
Generalized human responses to biodiversity can be grouped into
We might need it.
In this category are the claims concerning the actual or potential usefulness of biodiversity:
•
genetic resources for medicine, pharmacy and agriculture
•
ecosystem services
•
the continuity of life on Earth.
We like it.
•
In this category are the claims that biodiversity is a direct source of pleasure and aesthetic
satisfaction:
•
its contribution to quality of life
•
outdoor recreation
•
scenic enjoyment
•
preserving a sense of place
•
preserving refugees of wildness (wild lands and wild habitats).
We think we ought to.
In this category are the claims that
•
people have duties to preserve and protect biodiversity—duties based on higher moral
principles or on rights that are attributed to biodiversity or its living components.
Importance of Maintaining Biodiversity
1. Economic: "Biodiversity can help people make money or keep people from losing money."
2. Recreational: "People love outdoor activities like fishing and backpacking, which would not be
possible if ecosystems were destroyed."
3. Human health: "Biodiversity can help people find better cures for illnesses."
4. Human rights: "If biodiversity is protected, indigenous people can continue to live in their
native lands."
5. Spiritual/intrinsic value: "Biodiversity should be preserved for its own sake," "Animals and
plants have a right to live," and "People rely on wild places and creatures for spiritual
fulfillment."
Protecting biodiversity is in our self-interest.
Biological resources are the pillars upon which civilizations are built.
Nature's products support such diverse industries as 1. Agriculture
2.
cosmetics
3.
pharmaceuticals
4.
pulp and paper
5.
horticulture
6.
construction
7. waste treatment
The loss of biodiversity threatens -
•
our food supplies
•
opportunities for recreation
•
tourism
•
sources of wood
•
medicines
•
energy.
Two main types of value of biodiversity:
•
1. Instrumental value
•
2. Intrinsic value.
•
Instrumental value is the value that something has as a means to another's end.
•
Intrinsic value is the value that something has as an end to itself
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essential ecological functions
Instrumental values
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Materialistic uses of biodiversity are the core of instrumental values.
•
People also value biodiversity for pure aesthetic or spiritual reasons
Indirect value provided by ecosystems (Ecosystem services)
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Provision of food, fuel and fiber
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Provision of shelter and building materials
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Purification of air and water
•
Detoxification and decomposition of wastes
•
Stabilization and moderation of the Earth's climate
•
Moderation of floods, droughts, temperature extremes and the forces of wind Generation and
renewal of soil fertility, including nutrient cycling
•
Pollination of plants, including many crops
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Control of pests and diseases
•
Maintenance of genetic resources as key inputs to crop varieties, livestock breeds, medicines,
and other products
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Ability to adapt
Ecological values
•
Every population of every species is part of an ecosystem of interacting populations and
environment
•
Every population has an ecological role to play.
•
There are products, consumers, decomposers, and many variations of these roles and otherscompetitors, dispersers and pollinators, and more.
•
Some species play ecological roles that are of great importance than we would predict form
their abundance; these are called keystone species.
•
However, when assessing the ecological roles of species, conservation biologists assume that
every component of an ecosystem is critical until proven otherwise
•
A species that is relatively unimportant now may become important as an ecosystem changes
through time.
Direct-use values
Economists and biologists who measure the value of biodiversity categorize those values by how people
benefit
Most of the significant direct-use values are associated
with the great store of global biodiversity. These include •
The values of natural products for developing
pharmaceuticals,
•
For developing and maintaining the genetic basis for agriculture
•
For supporting industries based on use species such as fisheries and timber extraction
•
With the growth of the use of biotechnology and bioremediation*, the economic value of
genetic material from natural sources is likely to rise
*bioremediation (The use of organisms, usually microorganisms, to break down pollutants in soil, air or
groundwater)
Logging timber
Medicine
•
Seventy percent of pharmaceuticals now being used come from or are derived from natural
products.
•
Aspirin, from bark of willow trees
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Quinine, from the bark of the quina tree helps prevent malaria
•
taxol, from the bark of the Pacific yew tree is a a cancer-fighting drug
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Digitalis, from the foxglove plant is used to treat heart conditions
•
Even if only a small fraction of plants and organisms produce useful medicinal products, it is a
potential boon that we can't ignore and should maintain biodiversity.
•
Many pharmaceutical companies are currently engaged in bioprospecting - testing plant species
for potentially useful compounds, sometimes signing agreements with national governments for
permission.
•
Recreation and aesthetics
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Public use of nature reserves
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nature-based activities enjoyed by many include hiking, bird watching, fishing, and
photography, kayaking
Fishing and bird watching