Biodiversity Conservation

Discuss the different uses that biodiversity has for society, and how this may justify biodiversity conservation. Incorporate relevant case studies into your discussion.

Word count: 1,126

Due date: 17/11/2014

Biodiversity and Society

Biodiversity has remained an integral factor for enabling the existence of life. The English Oxford Dictionary, (2014) defines biodiversity as the: “diversity of plant and animal life, especially as represented by the number of extant species.” Humankind rests dependent on the rich plant and animal species that exist today in our world whereby these species lay at the heart of sustaining ecosystems that are agricultural and natural (Myers 1994, Raven and Johnson 1992, and Wilson 1994, cited by Pimentel et

So much to say that the loss of diversity itself is worse than any other environmental threat as it is irreversible (Mittermeier et al. 1998). Economic uses of biodiversity justify biodiversity conservation the most as the benefits to humankind are extremely significant. For example, Figure 1 states that the global fishing industry for bluefin tuna alone is valued at $7.2 billion, however experts say the species could become extinct within a decade. The monetary value of biodiversity is essential; otherwise decision makers around the globe will not take the subject seriously enough to justify conservation (Edwards and Abivardi, 1998). This is the reason why economic uses of biodiversity remain most important out of all uses, and strengthens the fact that through economic benefits humans are dependent on biodiversity. Other uses including recreational and medicinal also prove biodiversity conservation is important, as humans become dependent of a more and more diverse range of

F. and Hillman, J. R. (2007) New concepts and approaches to Biodiversity. In: E. J. T. Chrystal, S. K. Wrigley, R. Thomas, N. Nicholson, M. Hayes. Biodiversity: New Leads for the Pharmaceutical and Agrochemical Industries. Cambridge: The Royal Society of Chemistry. 2000, 17-21.

Mittermeier, R. A., Myers, N., Thomsen, J. B, Da Fonseca, G. A. B. and Olivieri, S. (1998) Biodiversity hotspots and major tropical wilderness areas: Approaches to setting conservation priorities. Conservation Biology. Vol. 12 No. 3 (p.516-520)

Molloy, D, Thomas, S. and Morling, P. (2011) RSPB Reserves and Local Economies. [Accessed online: http://www.rspb.org.uk/Images/reserves_localeconomies_tcm9-290937.pdf] Date accessed: 15/11/2014.

Naidoo, R. and Adamowicz, W. L. (2005) Economic benefits of Biodiversity exceed costs of conservation at an African Rainforest Reserve. In: The National Academy of Sciences of the USA. 102:46 (p.16712-16716)

Oxford English Dictionary, (2014) [Accessed online: http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/273819?redirectedFrom=biodiversity#eid] Date accessed: 14/11/2014.

Pimentel, D., Wilson, C., McCullum, C., Huang, R., Dwen, P. Flack, J., Tran, Q., Saltman, T. and Cliff, B. (1997) Economic and Environmental Benefits of Biodiversity In: BioScience. Vol. 47 No. 11 (p.747-757). Oxford: Oxford University