Why Is Biodiversity Important? Who

Cares?By

David Sengani

IntroductionO At least 40 per cent of the world’s

economy and 80 per cent of the needs of the poor are derived from biological resources. In addition, the richer the diversity of life, the greater the opportunity for medical discoveries, economic development, and adaptive responses to such new challenges as climate change.

What is BiodiversityO The variety of life on Earth, number of

species of O plants, O animals, andO microorganisms, O the enormous diversity of genes

in these species, O the different ecosystems, such

as deserts, rainforests and coral reefs

Why is Biodiversity Important?

O Biodiversity boosts ecosystem productivity where each species, no matter how small, all have an important role to play.

O For example,O A larger number of plant species means a

greater variety of cropsO Greater species diversity ensures natural

sustainability for all life formsO Healthy ecosystems can better withstand

and recover from a variety of disasters.

A healthy biodiversity offers many natural

servicesO A healthy biodiversity provides a

number of natural services for everyone: such as

OProtection of water resourcesOSoils formation and protectionONutrient storage and recycling

Cont.…O Pollution breakdown and absorptionO Contribution to climate stabilityO Maintenance of ecosystemsO Recovery from unpredictable events

Biological resourcesO FoodO Medicinal resources and

pharmaceutical drugsO Wood productsO Ornamental plantsO Breeding stocks, population reservoirsO Future resourcesO Diversity in genes, species and

ecosystems

Social benefitsO Research, education and monitoringO Recreation and tourismO Cultural values

Interdependence of Species

O While there might be “survival of the fittest” within a given species,

Oeach species depends on the services provided by other species to ensure survival.

O It is a type of cooperation based on mutual survival and is often what a “balanced ecosystem” refers to

Soil, bacteria, plants; the Nitrogen Cycle

O The relationship between soil, plants, bacteria and other life is also referred to as the nitrogen cycle:

Bees: crucial agricultural workers

O Bees provide enormous benefits for humankind as another example.

OAs reported by CNN (May 5, 2000), O“One third of all our food—fruits and

vegetables—would not exist without pollinators.

OHoneybees, the primary species that fertilizes food-producing plants.

O Honeybees suffered dramatic declines in recent years, mostly from afflictions introduced by humans.”

Management strategies

O To act quickly to ensure that the ancient pact between flowers and pollinators stays intact,

O To safeguard our food supply and to protect our environment for generations to come.

O To ensure that bees continue to provide pollination and that our diets remain rich in the fruits and vegetables we now take for granted.

Biodiversity providing lessons for scientists in

engineeringO For a number of years now, scientists have been

looking more and more at nature:O To see how various species work,O How they produce, O How they consume resources, Trying to mimic the amazing feats that millions

of years of evolution has produced.

Cont..O As just one small example, some

spiders can produce their silk with a higher tensile strength than many alloys of steel even though it is made of proteins. So biologists are looking at these processes in more depth to see if they can reproduce or enhance such capabilities.

Putting an economic value on biodiversity

O It was noted earlier that ecosystems provide many services to us, for free.

O Although some dislike the thought of trying to put an economic value on biodiversity (some things are just priceless), there have been attempts to do so in order for people to understand the magnitude of the issue: how important the environment is to humanity and what costs and benefits there can be in doing (or not doing) something.

O The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) is an organization — backed by the UN and various European governments — attempting to compile, build and make a compelling economics case for the conservation of ecosystems and biodiversity.

O In a recent report, The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity for National and International Policy Makers 2009, TEEB provided the following example of sectors dependent on genetic resources:

Loss of Biodiversity and Extinctions

O Despite knowing about biodiversity’s importance for a long time,

O Human activity has been causing massive extinctions. As the Environment New Service, reported back in August 1999

O “the current extinction rate is now approaching 1,000 times the background rate and may climb to 10,000 times the background rate during the next century, if present trends continue resulting in a loss that would easily equal those of past extinctions.”

Kirstenbosch: Boomslang (walkway)