Environmental Studies

Module 4. Biodiversity and its conservation

Lesson 13
VALUES OF BIODIVERSITY

13.1 Values of Biodiversity

Environmental economics (or ecological economics) provides methods of assigning economic values to species, communities and ecosystem. These values include the harvest (or market place) value of resources, the value provided by un-harvested resources in their natural habitat, and the future value of resources. For example, the Asian wild guar could be valued for the meat could be harvested from its current populations, its value for eco-tourism, or its future potential in cattle breeding.

The values can be divided as:

13.1.1 Direct values

Direct values, also known as use values and commodity values, are assigned to the products harvested by people. Direct values can be readily estimated by observing the activities of representative groups of people, by monitoring collection points for normal products and by examining the export/ import statistics. These values can be further sub-divided as:

a) Consumptive use value

It can be assigned to goods such as fuel wood and goods that are consumed locally and do not figure in national and international market

b) Productive use value

It is assigned to products that are derived from the wild and sold in commercial markets, both national as well as international markets.

13.1.2 Indirect values

Indirect values are assigned to benefits provided by biodiversity that do not involve harvesting or destroying the natural resource. Such benefits include ecological benefits such as soil formation, nutrient cycling, waste disposal, air and water purification, education, recreation, future options for human beings, etc. Indirect value can be further sub-divided as:

a) Non-consumptive use value

It is assigned to benefits such as soil formation/ protection, climate regulation, waste disposal, water and air purification, eco-tourism, medical research, etc.

b) Aesthetic, social and cultural value

The diversity of life on Earth brings us many aesthetic and cultural benefits. It adds to the quality of life, providing some of the most beautiful and appealing aspects of our existence.

Biodiversity is an important quality of landscape beauty. Many species of birds, large land mammals, sea animals and flowering plants are appreciated for their beauty. Millions of people enjoy hiking, camping, picnics, fishing, wildlife watching, and other recreational activities based on nature. These activities provide invigorating physical exercise and allow us to practice pioneer living skills. Contact with nature can also be psychologically and emotionally restorative. In many cultures, nature carries spiritual connotations, and a particular plant or animal species or landscape may be inextricably linked to a sense of identity and meaning.

Today we continue to imbue certain animals and plants with cultural significance; for instance, in India tiger and peacock, which are endangered, are especially valued because they have been adopted as national animal and bird respectively.

c) Option value

The option value of a species is its potential to provide our economic benefit to human society in the near future. For instance, there are several plant species which are edible and superior than those which are currently in use; e.g. Katemfe, a plant found in W. Africa, produces proteins that are 1,600 times sweeter than sucrose.

d) Existence value

It is assigned to protect wildlife. Since, for many people, the value of wildlife goes beyond the opportunity to photograph or even see a particular species. They argue that ‘existence value’, based on simply knowing that a species exist, is a sufficient reason to protect and preserve it. This right to exists was also stated in the U.N. General Assembly World Charter for Nature, 1982.

e) Ethical value

Moral justification for conservation of biodiversity is based on the belief that species have a moral right to exist, independent of our need for them. Consequently, the argument follows that in our role as the most intelligent species on Earth we have a responsibility to try as much as possible for the continuance of all forms of life.

Ethical values are deep rooted within human culture, a religion and society, but, those who look on cost benefit analysis, they overlook these ethical values. International boycotts of furs, teak and ivory are the good examples of moral justification.

13.2 Significance/ Importance/ Uses of Biodiversity

Various uses of biodiversity regarding direct and indirect values are as follows:

13.2.1 Timber

Wood is one of few commodities used and traded worldwide that is mainly harvested from wild sources. It is also one of the economically most important commodities in national and international trade. Wood export constitutes a significant part of the export earnings of many tropical developing countries. Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia are among the major exporters of hardwoods, including prized timbers such as teak and mahogany, produced mainly from natural forests.

13.2.2 Fishery

Fish and other fishery products make up another class of commodities of great economic importance in international trade that are harvested mainly from wild sources. These resources are also of crucial importance to global food security. Annual landings of aquatic resources have increased nearly five-times in the past four decades; and more than 80% was harvested from marine capture fisheries, the remainder was from inland fisheries and from aquaculture, both inland and marine. Though there are over 22,000 species of fish, but just ten individual marine fish species make up one-third of marine capture landings. The most important are the herrings, sardines and anchovies group.

13.2.3 Food

Food plants exemplify the most fundamental values of biodiversity. Presently, around 200 species have been domesticated as food plants. Out of these about 15 to 20 are of major international economic importance.

13.2.4 Medicinal value

Living organisms provide us with many useful drugs and medicines. Digitalis, an important drug in the treatment of certain heart ailments, comes from a small flowering plant – purple foxglove; Penicillin is a derivative of fungus; and so on. The UNDP estimates the value of pharmaceutical products derived from Third World plants, animals and microbes to be more than $30 billion per year.

There are numerous organisms that may produce useful medical compounds that are as yet unknown and untested. For instance coral reefs offer a particularly promising use in pharmaceutical drugs, because many coral reef species produce toxins to defend themselves. Many plant species native to India such as Neem, Tulsi, etc. too have potential medicinal applications.

13.2.5 Genetic value

Biological diversity is a valuable genetic resource. Most of the hybrid varieties of crops under cultivation have been developed by incorporating useful genes from different species of plants to produce better quality of the product with longer self-life or having better resistance to pests. Though such breeding techniques are unlimited in scope; but, for getting better strains in future, it is essential to build-up a gene-pool because the quality, yield, and resistance to pests, disease and adverse climatic conditions mostly depend on genetic factors and combination of genes which may be different in different strains/ varieties of species. There are hundreds of examples which illustrate how genetic modification helped in improved quality of the product. A few of them are mentioned as under:

• The genes from a wild variety of melon grown in U.P. helped in imparting resistance to powdery mildew in musk-melons grown in California (USA).
• The genes from the Kans grass (Saccharum Spontaneium) grown in Indonesia helped in imparting resistance to red rot disease of sugarcane.
• A wild variety of rice from U.P. saved millions of hectares of paddy crop from Grossy-Stunt virus.

13.2.6 Tourism

Tourism industry is mainly based on observation of wildlife within protected areas and is a major source of income for many developing countries. Tourism is the major source of foreign income for Kenya. Eco-tourism is now getting more attention and it includes interest in the all species of plants and animals, and forests.

13.2.7 Poor and indigenous people

Poor and indigenous people of under-developed countries are dependent on diversity in forests and wildlife for food, shelter, tools, and materials for clothing and medicines. Further reduction in the biodiversity can further increase the poverty of these poor people.

13.2.8 Pollution control

Plants and certain micro-organisms in particular can remove toxic substances from the air, water and soil. Since the different species have different characteristics and capabilities, therefore, a diversity of species can provide wide range of pollution control. For example, toxins like carbon-di-oxide and sulphur-di-oxide are removed by vegetation; carbon-monoxide is controlled by soil fungi and bacteria.