The Paramount Importance Of Biodiversity Preservation And Sustainability

Societies are highly dependent on habitat and ecosystem wellness and biodiversity. Issues affecting these are typically viewed through the lens of natural science, however, when local, national, and global economies are impacted, biodiversity loss must be viewed and analyzed through the economic lens of social science.

“There is a strong interaction between humans and nature: many ecologically valuable habitats have evolved from traditional socioeconomic land use practices. The deterioration of many habitats can also be traced directly to social processes” (Artner & Siebert). Ecosystem services directly and indirectly contribute to human welfare, i.e., food, firewood, and other tangible goods as well as regulation services obtained indirectly from ecological processes such as pest control, soil formation, and water purification. Cultural services such as ecotourism and environmental education are also impacted by biodiversity loss, negatively impacting economies dependent on these services. Other important ecosystem services that intersect natural and social science include disease regulation and pollination for food supply.

Humans are degrading ecosystems, which leads to habitat loss and species extinction at an unsustainable rate. And this massive problem goes beyond impacting nature; this degradation undermines human welfare by threatening food supply chains and access to clean water and energy, making this a developmental issue as well. Population growth further aggravates these issues. “The more people we have on the Earth and the richer they are, the more they can demand resources. It’s the combination of numbers of people and the ability to purchase” (Wernick). With the world’s population said to increase from 7 billion today to 9.7 billion by 2050, the challenge which exists now and that will be far more challenging by 2050 is, how can we meet food, water, and energy needs as the population booms while our vital ecosystems rapidly decline and disappear?

Researchers calculated the value of biodiversity ecosystems to be around $24 trillion a year, roughly equal to the GDP of the Americas. Land degradation to date has likely depressed the global economy by about 10 percent; that is, if humanity had not degraded its vital ecosystems, the economy would be 10 percent larger than it is today. Maintaining biodiversity and changing our approach to land use is good for the economy, not a burden on it, as many tend to think (Wernick).

“When you look at the effect on the economy, many people immediately think of what I call the market value of food and water, but there’s a huge economic value in the way biodiversity — nature — regulates our climate, regulates pollution, regulates our pollination services and [controls] storm surges to protect the coast from sea level rise” said Sir Robert Watson, chair of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, and while these are matters of environmental science and health science, biodiversity loss can have a significant direct human health impact if ecosystem services are no longer adequate to meet social needs. Indirectly, changes in ecosystem services affect livelihoods, income, local migration and, on occasion, may even cause political conflict (World Health Organization).

“The analysis of conflicts, public acceptance and participation in biodiversity management as well as the development of conflict resolution methods provide policy-oriented scientific knowledge” (Artner & Siebert). “Ecologists consciously adopted economic language because it was a way to speak to politicians and other policymakers” (Masood). Policy implementation and further research and analyses of human attitudes towards nature through the lens of social science can contribute considerably to an individual and global understanding of the paramount importance of biodiversity preservation and sustainability as it directly and indirectly impacts every human on Earth.

References

1. Artner, A. and Seibert, R. (2006) The role of the social sciences for biodiversity and ecosystem management. Accessed December 4, 2019 from https://oega.boku.ac.at/fileadmin/user_upload/Tagung/2005/05_Artner.pdf
2. Biodiversity, Climate Change and Human Health. World Health Organization. Accessed December 4, 2019 from https://www.who.int/globalchange/ecosystems/biodiversity/en/
3. Masood, E. August 23, 2018. The Battle for the Soul of Biodiversity – An ideological clash may undermine a crucial assessment of the world’s disappearing plant and animal life. Nature Magazine. Scientific American. Accessed December 4, 2019 from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-battle-for-the-soul-of-biodiversity/
4. Wernick, A. April 21, 2018. Biodiversity loss has an enormous impact on humans, according to a UN report. Living on Earth. Accessed December 4, 2019 from https://www.pri.org/stories/2018-04-21/biodiversity-loss-has-enormous-impact- humans-according-un-report