Diversity of Life Meanings and Values of Biodiversity

The def i ni ti on of bi ol ogi cal di versi t y ref ers to al l l i vi ng organi sms on earth and al l of t hei r l evel s of
bi ol ogi cal organi zat i on, i ncl udi ng t hree l evel s of di versi t ygeneti c, speci es, and ecosystem. The
abundance of di fferent l i vi ng phenomena on earth di st i ngui shes earth f rom other l i f el ess pl anets.
Bi ol ogi cal di versi t y i s the f oundat i on f or t he evol uti on of l i vi ng organi sms on earth.
Human exi stence on eart h i s di rectl y dependent on other bi ol ogi cal organi sms. Everyt hi ng we do f rom t he
moment we wae i n t he morni ng ! our f ood, cl othi ng, housi ng, t ransport at i on, educati on, and
ent ertai nment ! are al l i nt egral l y rel at ed to bi ol ogi cal organi sms. Bi odi versi t y i s an i nseparabl e f act or i n
al l f acet s of human exi st ence f rom growi ng f ood by hand t o i ndustri al ci vi l i zati on, f rom st abl i zati on of
cl i mat es t o preservati on of t opsoi l , and f rom t radi ti onal ci vi l i zat i on t o modern medi cal t echnol ogy.
However, we of ten negl ect t he f act that we i nhabi t earth wi t h other organi sms and f orget the preci ous
val ue of t he resources exi sti ng al l around us.
Eval uat i ng t he val ue of l i f e f rom a seri ous perspecti ve, we usual l y di vi de bi ol ogi cal di versi t y and i ts val ue
t o humani t y i n t he f ol l owi ng categori es"
#. $ul t ural , Ethi cal , and %est heti c &al uesBi odi versi t y i s an i mport ant f act or i n t he spi ri tual devel opment
of human bei ngs. 't i s a part of human nature t o en( oy get ti ng cl ose to other l i vi ng organi sms. Thi s
)bi ophi l i a* has i nspi red humans to come cl oser to and en( oy the l andscape and l i vi ng phenomena i n
nat ure ! i nt eracti on that has brought about t he devel opment of ci vi l i zat i on, t he art s, and aest heti cs.
+. ,ci ent i f i c and Educat i onal &al uesThe abundance of speci es and processes f ound i n bi odi versi t y
provi de us wi th the raw mat eri al and i nspi rati on to conduct basi c research i n t he l i f e sci ences. ' t i s of
even great er val ue f or educat i on and the st i mul ati on of f uture sci ent i f i c research.
-. Economi c &al ueBi ol ogi cal di versi t y i s extremel y val uabl e t o humans f rom an economi c standpoi nt.
.e obt ai n al l t he basi c raw materi al s i ncl udi ng f ood, medi ci ne, bui l di ng mat eri al s, and many ot her
el ements di rectl y f rom bi ol ogi cal resources f or mai nt ai ni ng our ci vi l i zati on. The economi c mechani sms at
t he heart of ci vi l i zati on have evol ved f rom t he commerci al i zat i on of bi ol ogi cal resources and t hei r t rade
by humans on a l arge scal e. Through t hei r di rect and i ndi rect use by humans, bi ol ogi cal resources have
devel oped i nnumerabl e economi c val ues. These val ues have onl y been abl e t o evol ve through t he
exi st ence of bi ol ogi cal resources and thei r di versi t y. /i rstl y, the potent i al benef i ts of the val ue of di versi t y
gave ri se to t he )opti on val ue. * .e shoul d be wi l l i ng to i nvest i n conservat i on now i n order t o reserve t he
opt i on of usi ng bi ol ogi cal resources wi thi n our l i f et i me and shari ng i n the benef i t s ari si ng f rom thei r
uti l i zat i on. ,econdl y, bi ol ogi cal di versi t y0 s )be1uentu val ue* means t hat thi s generat i on shoul d be wi l l i ng
t o prot ect bi odi versi t y so that f ut ure generat i ons can en( oy t he benef i ts and val ues ari si ng f rom t hem.
/urthermore, t here i s an )exi st ence val ue* f or whi ch human bei ngs shoul d gai n a sense of sat i sf act i on
f rom nowi ng t hat bi ol ogi cal di versi t y i s bei ng prot ected i n i t s enti ret y and shoul d be wi l l i ng to pay a pri ce
f or i ts conti nued exi stence.
2. Ecol ogi cal &al ue3Every organi sm i n every ecosystem possesses i t s own part i cul ar ecol ogi cal
f unct i ons, act i ng as an i nt egral component that i nf l uences t he overal l f uncti on and compl et eness of an
ecosyst em. Thus a heal t hy ecosyst em wi l l be abl e to perf orm comprehensi ve and hi gh 1ual i t y ecol ogi cal
servi ces. /or i nst ance, the stabi l i zat i on of mi crocl i mates, water f i l teri ng and cl eani ng, oxygen producti on,
pol l uti on cl eansi ng, soi l product i on, wat ers and nutri ent s, and ai r cycl i ng, and the pol l i nat i on of pl ants.
.il d organi sms carry out many f uncti ons i n t he envi ronment t hat are vi t al t o us, and t hat woul d be very
di ffi cul t, i f not i mpossi bl e, t o do oursel ves.
The l i mi tl ess desi res of humani t y conti nue t o grow as t he human popul ati on i ncreases at a dramati c pace.
$urrent l y, humans di rectl y consume hal f of the Eart h0 s bi ol ogi cal product i vi t y, as wel l as hal f of usabl e
f reshwat er. Human acti vi ti es al so di rectl y overuse ani mal and pl ant l i f e, thereby resul ti ng i n t he l oss of
genet i c di versi t y, and the devastati on of ent i re ecosystems. Thi s l eads to a scarci t y of t he natural
resources that humans rel y on. ,uch a vi ci ous cycl e coul d event ual l y l eads to t he ext i nct i on of human l i f e
i n the f ut ure. The root s of bi odi versi t y l oss l i e i n the expl oi tati on and di spl acement of natural resources
such as, l and, water, ai r and ocean. The most seri ous aspect of such l oss i s the di sappearance,
destructi on, shri ni ng and pol l ut i on of habi tats and f ragmentati on of l andscape. %l l of these have resul t ed
f rom t he i ncrease of popul ati on, i nappropri ate use of natural resources, change of consumpt i on habi ts
and producti on of t he soci et y, as wel l as maret mechani sm f ai l ure and wea i ntegrat i on of governmental
and systemat i c strat egi es. 'n addi t i on, the f el l i ng of trees and t he capture and i l l i ng of wi l dl i f e causes
speci es0 popul ati ons t o di mi ni sh, and the i ntroducti on of non4nati ve speci es threat ens t he exi st ence of
nat i ve speci es. These f actors cause the l oss of genet i c materi al , the extermi nati on of speci es, and even
t he l oss of ecosyst em f unct i ons. The homogeni zati on of agri cul tural product i on syst ems, as wel l as the
art i f i ci al rai si ng of excl usi vel y economi c l i vest oc and crops i s narrowi ng genet i c pool s and causi ng the
l oss of genet i c resources. Human act i vi t y cont i nual l y resul ts i n sweepi ng changes t o the eart h5 s
envi ronment, such as gl obal warmi ng, t he dest ruct i on of the ozone l ayer, and unstabl e cl i mates, al l l ong4
t erm t hreats t o bi ol ogi cal di versi t y. 't i s di ffi cul t t o put a 1uant i f i abl e val ue on t he damage and detri ment al
affect s i ncurred through t he rapi d l oss of bi odi versi t y caused by human act i vi t y, and such bi odi versi t y i s
i mpossi bl e t o repl ace when i t i s gone.