Biodiversity and Economics

Biodiversity and Economics

In July 2010; the first Global Biodiversity symposium in London explored the role of biodiversity in business opportunities and risks. Industry  is broadly interested in the judicious use of natural resources with operational profitability, without adversely affecting biodiversity. Biodiversity is fundamental to economics. The G8 nations, together with 5 major emerging economies ( China, India, South Africa, Brazil and Mexico ) use almost three –quarters of earth’s bio-capacity. An estimated 40% of world is dependent on biological products or processes.

Biodiversity and Agriculture

About 80% of human’s food supply comes from just 20 kinds of plants; humans use at least 40,000 species for food, shelter and clothing. Crop diversity aids recovery when the dominant cultivar is attacked by a disease or predator. In the past, Irish Potato blight of 1846 was due to plantation of two potato varieties 6,273 varieties were screened for resistance to rice grassy stunt virus; only one resistant indian variety was selected and crossed with  other varieties. Monoculture was a contributing factor to several agricultural disasters. Bees provide enormous benefits for humankind and agriculture. It is the primary species that fertilizers food producing plants. The interdependence between bees, human and agriculture  is very crucial as summarized by researcher.

      “ Human kind needs to act quickly to ensure the ancient pact between flowers and pollinators stay intact, to safeguard our food supply and to protect our environment for generations to come. These efforts will ensure that bees continue to provide pollination and that our filets remain rich in fruits and vegetables, we now take for granted.” (Dina Cox-foster and Dennis van Engels drop, Solving the Mystery of the Vasnishing Bees, Scientific American, April 2009.)

Biodiversity and Sustainable Development

Sustainable development is a way of resource use to meet human needs while preserving the environment, so that the resources are available for the generations to come. It is often described as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations  to meet their own needs. Sustainable development has three constituent parts: environmental sustainability, economic sustainability and sociopolitical sustainability, There is an urgent need for developing a set of guiding principles for sustainable use of biological biodiversity. These principles  should be adapted to different human societies and biomes and thus open to modification and improvement as per need. Through an adaptive and ongoing process of this kind, it is possible to maximize the chances that use of biological biodiversity will be sustainable in the long term. It is necessary that civil society and governments understand that sustainable use is a prerequisite for the achievement of the broader goal of sustainable development.