Biodiversity II
ES 118 Spring 2008
Value of biodiversity

Benefits
– Goods (e.g., forests and fisheries)
– Services (e.g., recreation or ecosystem
services)

Intrinsic value
– E.O. Wilson Biophilia (1984): Humans
seem to inherently enjoy diversity of life
Medical value

Taxol
Biodiversity has value to people as medicine
– 1700 plants in China and 2500 in India are used
for medicinal purposes
– About 1/2 of the medicinal drugs used in the
world (25% in the United States) have active
ingredients extracted from wild organisms
– At least 1400 plant species in tropical forests are
believed to contain anticancer chemicals

Example: Taxol - found in the bark of the
Yew tree
Economic value
Neem Tree

Many plants and insects have value to
people
– Agriculture: Most of the plants that supply 90%
of the world’s food today from tropics
– Insects: important for the pollination of crops,
and used as food
– Natural insecticides (pyrethrin for example)
– Many other products: silk, glue, soap (animal
fats), leather, musk, down, wool

Example: Neem tree
Aesthetic and Recreational

Almost 50% of all Americans participate
each year in some form of outdoor
recreational activity involving wildlife

Spend about $37 billion
– 95 million observe, feed, or photograph wild
animals and plants
– 54 million people fish each year
– 16 million people hunt each year
Ecological importance

Produce oxygen, filter toxic
substances, decompose wastes and
perform many other functions

Keystone species

Genetic diversity is the basis for all
future evolution
Value of biodiversity

Economic benefits of the world’s
“ecosystem services” estimated at
$33 trillion
– Maybe much more
– Some have estimated 100:1 beneficial
return on conservation investment
Costanza et al. 1997 “Value of the world’s
ecosystem services” Nature
Ethical importance

The biocentric view
holds that each
species has an
inherent value on its
own
“We
must be concerned about conservation and environmental
responsibility not because it is profitable or beautiful, and not even
because it promotes our survival, but because it is right.”
- Roderick Nash
Information

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
(www.redlist.org)
– Critically endangered, endangered,
vulnerable
– Extinct, extinct in the wild
The Encyclopedia of
Life
Influence of E.O Wilson
What should we protect?
Conservation Planning

Different strategies to deciding what to
protect
– Species-based approaches

Flagship or umbrella species (African
elephant, tiger, giant panda)
– Ecosystem based approaches
– What areas are most threatened and
valuable? (e.g., Gap analysis)
Species-based approaches
Case Study: Tiger Conservation Landscape
Ecoregions at risk
Hoekstra et al. 2005
Hot Spots (CI)
What tools do we have?

Many different strategies, some of most
common include:
–
–
–
–
–
Zoos and aquariums
International agreements
Debt-for-nature swaps
National laws
Strict protected areas (e.g. National Parks) and
areas that integrate conservation and
development
– Economic incentives
Zoos and Aquariums

Captive breeding one way to protect threatened
and endangered species
– Act as “genetic ark”
– But limited space (e.g., only 3 of 5 tiger subspecies in
US zoos; globally 280,000 vertebrates, 7,000 sps)
– Zoos prefer “attractive” wildlife species
– Important education role (600 milllion visitors/year)
– Major source of funds from ex situ (captive) facilities
to in situ (wild) conservation areas
Seed Banks



Secure repository for backup supplies
of seeds from plant varieties
1,400 seed banks around the world
Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Norway,
opened yesterday
– Goal: to protect the genetic diversity of
the world’s main food crops
International agreements

1973: Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
(CITES)
– Attempts to regulate international trade in species that may
be imperiled by trade

1992 “Earth Summit” (UN Conference on
Environment and Sustainable Development)
– >Convention on Biological Diversity called for a “fair and
equitable” sharing of profits obtained by biotechnological
development based on biological resources
– 188 countries (US not party)
International programs
Transition area
Buffer zone

UNESCO Man and the
Biosphere Program
Core Area
– Biosphere Reserves

1971 RAMSAR Convention
on Wetlands
– List of Wetlands of
International Importance
settlements
tourist spot
research
Debt-for-nature swaps

Many nations have borrowed money from
international lenders to support
development of infrastructure, dams, etc.
– Beginning in 1987 conservation groups and
countries have bought discounted debt bonds to
generate funds for conservation
– Ex: 1990 coalition of governments and
organizations purchased almost $11 million
worth of Costa Rica’s debt, in exchange, Costa
Rica agreed to invest in conservation projects
National laws example:
Endangered Species Act

Since 1973, primary wildlife
conservation law in US
– Realization that much habitat being lost
– Act: “various species of fish, wildlife, and
plants in the United States have been
rendered extinct as a consequence of
economic growth and development
untempered by adequate concern and
conservation.”
– As noted by Supreme Court, “The plain
intent of Congress in enacting [ESA] was to
halt and reverse the trend toward species
extinction, whatever the cost.”
Implementation
 Implementation
– US Fish and Wildlife Service (Dept. Interior) and
NOAA Fisheries Service (Dept. Commerce)
responsible for day-to-day implementation
– Authorized to identify and list animal and plant
species that are endangered or threatened in US
and abroad
 Definitions
– Endangered: “in danger of extinction throughout
all or a significant portion of its range”
– Threatened: “likely to become an endangered
species in the foreseeable future”
Key Elements of ESA


All federal agencies must consult with FWS
before taking action that might affected
listed species
Regulates private conduct by making it
illegal for any person to sell, import, export,
or transport any plant or animal species or
remove plants from federal lands listed as
endangered or to “take” them
– Take broadly defined to mean “to harass, harm,
pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or
collect, or to attempt to engage in any such
conduct”
Promoting Recovery

Once species listed, FWS typically prepares
recovery plan for species
– About 80% of listed species have recovery plan

1982 amendment that authorizes UFWS to issue
non-Federal entities a permit for the “incidental
take” of endangered and threatened wildlife.
– Defined as “incidental to, and not the purpose of, the
carrying out of an otherwise lawful activity.”
– FWS can now permit “taking” if (1) taking is merely
incidental to an otherwise lawful activity (such as property
development), (2) the permit applicant has devised an
acceptable habitat conservation plan (HCP)
– To date, more than 450 HCPs have been approved
covering 38 million acres and 200 listed species
Reforming ESA

No surprises assurances: provided to private
landowners to assure that if “unforeseen
circumstances” arise, FWS will not require
additional compensation or restrictions of their use
of land, water, or other natural resources beyond
what was agreed upon in HCP
– FWS has adopted a “Permit Revocation Rule” to address
concern if unforeseen circumstances arise

Safe harbor agreements are used to encourage
landowners to enhance, restore, or create habitat
on their property
– FWS agrees that if landowner enhances land, problems
won’t arise if they return to initial condition at later time
– By 2005, over 30 agreements covering 30 million acres
Protected areas


Evolution: Protecting dramatic landscapes
Recognition that we were losing wild places
Protected areas
Growth in number of marine and terrestrial protected areas
(area represents terrestrial only)
12.65% of
earth’s surface
Early protected areas


“Fences and fines” & “Fortress
conservation”
Emphasis on single protected areas
over reserve systems
Conservation-Development

Integrated Conservation and Development
Projects (ICDPS)
– Community-based conservation

Incentives
– Certification, subsidies, grants, job creation

Ecotourism:
– Financing protected areas through entrance fees
and concession payments
– Alternative livelihoods
– Stewardship
– Impetus for private conservation
Tradeoffs?
Subsistence use
Local markets
Sustainability
© P. Nyhus
National markets
Multi-national trade
Performance
Payments
Do local communities
benefit?


Assumption: When local communities receive direct
benefit from protected areas, they will have the
incentive to conserve those areas
Salafsky et al. (2001) tested this hypothesis
– 39 community-based conservation efforts in Asia and
Pacific

Successful projects associated with
– Non-cash benefits, particularly development of high
community confidence and close relationships with project
staff
– Local ownership and management
– Conservation threats posed by people or factors outside
the community more effectively countered than those
within the community