Why biodiversity is important

Ecological biodiversity encompasses 40 percent of the global economy – based on biological products and processes. It has sustained human livelihood and life itself. Too, it has allowed significant increases in the production of food and other natural materials, which, in turn, fed the growth and development of human societies.

Through close interventions and manipulations, humans have created thousands of new crop varieties and livestock breeds with distinct development benefits. It is also important in the innumerable environmental services that keep us and the environment alive – from clean water and watershed services to the recycling of nutrients and pollination.

Maintaining the potential for adaptation is important as it allows organisms to adapt to modifications in the environment such as climate. It also allows farmers and breeders to alter and create new varieties by crossing genetic lines, thus boosting productivity and enabling the same species to be grown across a huge variety of climatic and ecological conditions.

Take, as an example, a single crop such as wheat. The genetic diversity held within this crop and its wild relatives has allowed selective adaptation, making it successfully grown across a vast range of different climatic zones, from North America and Africa to Asia and Australia.

Throughout history, societies have protected areas they consider valuable. Conservation has taken many different forms: national parks or sacred sites and imposing use restrictions on certain plants or animals known as in situ conservation. Specific areas have most often been set aside for such reasons as their rare ecology (endemic or Red Listed species) or exceptionally high species diversity: their critical environmental services such as watershed protection or evolutionary functions. Another important aspect is their continued use by indigenous peoples who are still pursuing ‘traditional’ lifestyles based on ‘wild’ resources.

The pattern of declining support for biodiversity conservation has been to some extent countered by the Global Environment Facility and other smaller funding facilities. To these days, the deficit remains large and governments in developing countries are unlikely to devote the necessary resources to conservation in the near or medium term. New sources of funding and new forms of partnership in biodiversity conservation are critically required. This is where the private sector, including the mining and minerals industry can further develop their role.