Reasons for Biodiversity Conservation

▪ There are three main reasons for conserving the biodiversity which have been classified into the following categories:

i. Narrowly utilitarian arguments 

• Human beings derive direct economic benefits from nature, like food, firewood, fibre, construction material, industrial products (resins, gums, dyes, tannins, etc.) and medicinally important products. 

• More than 25 per cent of the drugs are derived from plants and about 25,000 species of plants are used by native people as traditional medicines.

ii. Broadly utilitarian arguments 

• Biodiversity plays a major role in maintaining and sustaining supply of goods and services from various species as well as ecological systems. 

• The different ecological services provided are:

a. Amazon forest is estimated to contribute 20 per cent of the total oxygen in the atmosphere on earth. 

b. Ecosystem provides pollinators like bees, bumble bees, birds and bats which pollinate plants to form fruits and seeds.

iii. Ethical reasons 

• There are thousands of plants, animals and microbes on this earth which are not useless. Every one has some intrinsic value even if it is not of any economic value to us. 

• It is, therefore, our moral duty to ensure well-being of all the living creatures for the utilisation of future generations.