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.
