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 Landscapes

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

to

in situ

(wild) conservation areas

(

captive) facilities

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

 UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Program – Biosphere Reserves  1971 RAMSAR Convention on Wetlands – List of Wetlands of International Importance

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 before taking action that might affected listed species must consult with FWS Regulates private conduct endangered or to “ conduct” take 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 ” 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

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 “ acceptable

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 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 National markets Multi-national trade Sustainability © P. Nyhus

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