Is Biodiversity Overprotected Debate Essay Example

2005). Currently the extinction rate is 40,000 times higher than this “background” rate (Shiva et al, 1991,16).

Though humans evolved along side the millions of others we are now the force that rules over the existence or demise of our fellow inhabitants. We are replacing the natural delicately balanced ecosystem with our own habitat. This process has left other various species homeless or unable to quickly adapt to the changes humans have brought about which is accelerating extinction rates to an alarming level. Current projects to protect and promote the world’s biological diversity are failing as shown by the rate of deforestation, pollution and extinction throughout the world .

Sadly a large portion of the deforestation is occurring in what biologists call “global biodiversity hotspots” that occupy about 2% of the earths surface but harbor more than half of it’s species (Becher, 1995, 24). Brazil once had more that one million square kilometers of coastal forest, 90% of that is now gone and within it lives the largest number of species at immediate risk of extinction in the Americas, but this is equally true for the worlds three remaining tropical forests, they have all lost al least 70% of their vegetative cover (Primm et al, 2005).

Protected areas are the single most important conservation tool and occupy 11. 5% of the Earth’s land surface, but this growth has not been aimed at maximizing the biodiversity of these hotspots (Rodriguez et al, 2004, 1092). We are destroying habitat and species faster than we are able to identify them or to find out what benefit they may serve our own species. The value of biodiversity to human health is one

aspect that we must consider.

A large proportion of the pharmaceuticals we use today are derived from the natural world. "Over 50% of commercially available drugs are based on bioactive compounds extracted (or patterned) from non-human species" (Grifo et al, 1997). "Of the top 100 prescribed drugs in the United States, 55% are natural in origin. It has been estimated that 80% of the world's population (in developing countries) rely on traditional plant-based medicines for their primary health care" (Farnsworth et al, 1985). Of the known 265,000 species of flowering plants, it is estimated that less than half of 1% have been screened for their beneficial pharmaceutical properties" (Cox, 1995). We may be destroying the compound that may one day hold the cure for the next major pandemic. The destruction of ecological biodiversity, along with unknown consequences of destruction of keystone species and the cascade effects that result far outweighs the immediate human centered measures of species importance.

The dichotomy is that the habitats that we are destroying are very much linked to our own existence in that they serve many purposes. Rainforests maintain and protect watersheds and soil, regulate climate, provide habitat for wild plant and animal species (Shiva et al, 1995, 24), recycle CO2 in the atmosphere which minimizes global warming. Along the lines that global warming is increasing, that coupled with the fragmentation or “islanding or natural habitat will add to the spiral of extinction for even more migratory animals.

Action must occur immediately to hinder the further destruction of these invaluable places that provide so much. Every species should be given the same opportunity for survival with the attitude that they are intrinsically valuable,

not only for the commercial usages they make available. Preservation of these natural areas should be of major concern to every human. If destruction rates continue to occur at the same level which is taking place today that the misuse of our planet and disregard for it’s biodiversity will ultimately lead to our own demise.