BIODIVERSITY FOR SUSTENANCE OF MANKIND

FOR MILLIONS OF YEARS HUMANS HAVE DEPENDED ON BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS PLANTS, ANIMALS, AND MICRO-ORGANISMS, FOR FOOD, MEDICINES AND INDUSTRIAL  PRODUCTS.OVER THE YEARS, PARTICULARLY DURING THE LAST FEW DECADES, THIS IMPORTANT CAPITAL STOCK ON WHICH HUMAN LIFE DEPENDS HAS BEEN SUBJECTED TO IRREPLACABLE LOSS. IRONICALLY THESE LOSSES OCCURED, UNNOTICED AND UNAPPRECIATED, BY THE VERY DEVELOPMENT AND PROGRESS THAT SOCIETIES ACHIEVED. BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS CAN REPRODUCE, UNLIKE OTHER RESOURCES,BUT WHAT CANNOT BE EASILY REPRODUCED IS THE VARIETY OF LIFE FORMS WHICH ORIGINATE AND ARE SUSTAINED BY A PROCESS OF NATURAL AND SOCIAL SELECTION, AND THEIR INTER-RELATIONSHIPS.

BIODIVERSITY IS ESSENTIAL FOR HUMAN SELF INTEREST, AS HIS OWN SUSTENANCE IS INVOLVED. IT SUSTAINS MAN, BECAUSE ECOSYSTEMS FUNCTION AS THE PLANETARY LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEM, RENEWING ATMOSPHERIC OXYGEN AND PLAYING A CENTRAL PART IN THE BIOCHEMICAL CYCLE. THEY ARE THE SOURCE OF FIBRE, FOOD, TIMBER, NATURAL DRUGS AND  OTHER PRODUCTS; THEY CONSERVE SOIL AND THEY SHELTER GENETIC STRAINS TO WHICH CROP BREEDERS CONTINUALLY RETURN IN ORDER TO IMPROVE CULTIVATED VARIETIES.

BIODIVERSITY IN ALL ITS FORMS AND ABUNDANCE PROVIDES FOR THE SUSTENANCE OF MANKIND, BUT, THIS IS NOT POSSIBLE WHEN THE ENVIRONMENT SUFFERS FROM VARIOUS KINDS OF POLLUTION AND DEGRADATION. THE OZONE DEPLETION HAS LED TO ENHANCED UV-B RADIATIONS WHICH NOT ONLY KILL SMALLER LIFE FORMS BUT ALSO AFFECT THE GENES OF PLANTS, ANIMALS AND MAN.