Biodiversity for development and poverty alleviation
DEVELOPMENT processes and biodiversity are somehow interlinked (McNeely, 2002). Ecosystem services can shape the development paths of a country, region, or locality e.g. whether it chooses to pursue agriculture, timber production, fishing, tourism or any combination of these or other productive sectors. The world economy and national and sub-national economies are largely dependent on biodiversity. Many developing countries rely on the export of natural resources such as agricultural commodities, raw materials and ecotourism services. In developing countries biodiversity, the natural capital, is estimated to be a quarter of total wealth as compared to 13% in middle income countries and 2% in high income OECD countries. Agriculture: Biodiversity plays an essential role in supporting crop production. Soil, animals and microbes, together with plant root systems, contribute to maintaining soil structure, and facilitate nutrient cycling particularly important for crop production. Natural pest and disease control through parasites, predators benefits food security, rural household incomes, and national incomes of many developing countries. Insect pollinators are often essential for fertilization of crop species. Fisheries: There is an estimate that the first-sale value of global fisheries (marine and inland) is US$ 91.2 billion. Freshwater systems have a large economic value with tropical rivers and inland fisheries estimated to generate $5.58 billion annually while the goods and services derived from wetlands have an estimated value of $70 billion per year (Ali, 2002). Recreational fishing is an increasingly important source of revenue. More than 3 billion people depend on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods particularly in developing countries where fishing is a main subsistence and commercial activity. A study estimated that one billion people, mostly in low-income countries, depend on fish as their primary source of food. According to an estimate about 38 million people are employed directly by fishing (Ferdinand et al. 2007). Forestry: Forests are vital to economies, both directly through revenues, value-added and employment provided by the forestry sector, and indirectly through their provision of services such as water supply to agriculture and to industry. Number of people in the world who rely on timber and non-timber forest products is 1.6 billion. Today forest biodiversity underpins a wide range of goods and services including food, materials for medicinal, cultural and spiritual purposes, as well as building materials and firewood critical for human and economic development. Tourism: On a global scale, tourism accounts for 10% of the job market. Tourism is particularly important for women as they compose 46% of the global tourism labour force. Many of the developing countries rich in biodiversity such as South Africa, Peru, Mexico and Brazil are popular tourist destinations receiving over five million international arrivals per year (UNEP, 2008). National parks, coastal areas, mountains, forests and other ecosystems are tourist attractions. Tourism is one of Rwanda's largest sources of foreign exchange, earning US$ 42 million in 2007. Namibia's protected areas contribute 6% of GDP in tourism (Hasem et al.2006). Ecotourism is a growing sub-sector of the tourism industry and is becoming an attractive livelihood option for rural communities. Medicines: Biodiversity can help alleviate the national costs of supplying medical provisions in many developing countries. The contribution of biodiversity to pharmaceutical sector is about 20% to 50% worldwide that is derived from genetic diversity. There is also a very large and expanding commercial trade in medicinal plants, involving an estimated 2,500 species (World Bank, 2005). The widespread reliance of the poor on natural medicines is met largely through the use of locally harvested plant extracts. Traditional medical systems are important globally, and particularly for the world's poor, who have restricted access to formal medical care. An estimated 2000 tonnes of herbs are used annually in India. Many countries, such as Thailand, Sri Lanka, Mexico, and China and India, have integrated traditional medicine into their national health care systems. Percentage of people in Africa estimated by WHO to rely on traditional medicines (plants and animals) as the main source of their health care needs is 80. Poverty alleviation: For poor countries like ours, it is absolute poverty that always drives our concern. About 70% of the world's poor, particularly in rural areas, depend on biological resources for as much as 90% of their needs, including food, fuel, medicine, shelter and transportation, health, nutrition and for crop development. The urban poor over the world depend on water provision and purification performed by forests and wetlands. For the 1.1 billion people living in extreme poverty, maintaining ecosystem goods and services is critical for daily survival (Kieth, 2000). When properly managed and governed, biodiversity based assets can yield significant economic benefits, ensure that “the rich do not turn poor”, and help pave the way out of poverty. This is the reason why facing the challenge of increasing poverty Zambia has given protecting biodiversity a top priority. Supporting food and employment: Agriculture is central to the livelihoods of the rural poor and it is the largest economic sector in terms of employment. In Burkina Faso, 92% of the active work force is employed in agriculture. It is also the sector where the majority of the world's poor and extremely poor is concentrated. Species of crops and livestock and their genetic diversity are the basis of agriculture. Conserving biodiversity: We need action by all concerned to arrest the loss of biodiversity. And there are things we all can do: -Knowledge is power. The more we know about the causes, consequences and how to prevent biodiversity loss, the more power we will have to act. Also, our actions will be more efficient and focused. So, biodiversity issue should be incorporated from the very beginning in our formal and informal education systems. -As we learn more about biodiversity, we need to let others know as well that biodiversity conservation is worth pursuing. We can discuss it among groups we belong to. We can write letters, features in newspaper. -We all do things every day which directly or indirectly affect biodiversity by putting pressure on our natural systems. We can reduce such pressure by being aware of species at risk and taking action to protect their populations or habitats, creating habitat for them on our own property, avoiding pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers and reducing energy use in homes, businesses, institutions and vehicles. -Let politicians at all levels know that biodiversity conservation is a critical issue that the government needs to do more about. -Another important area of action is the establishment of protected areas. It has been estimated that conserving 20-30% of global oceans through a network of Marine Protected Areas could create a million jobs, and sustain a marine fish catch worth $70-80 billion/year. A study of 80 countries found that fish populations, size and biomass all dramatically increased inside reserves, allowing spillover to nearby fishing grounds. The area of land and sea that is protected has grown substantially in the past years. Still there is a need to extend protected areas, particularly to ecosystems that are currently under-represented or not represented at all. Bangladesh has 18 protected areas to conserve country's biodiversity. -Sustainable tourism factoring in biodiversity can contribute to biodiversity conservation and the growth of local economies. For example, tourism is a major source of revenue and support for protected areas and surrounding communities. Public policies and governance involving local and business actors are instrumental in making existing tourism more biodiversity-friendly. -Agricultural development, based on intensification, globalization, and rapidly improving technology, is a primary factor in poverty reduction and enlarging biodiversity conservation areas. Sustainable agriculture provides food security to the poor and smallholder farmers, offers trade opportunities for developing countries, and restores and improves ecosystems, breeding grounds for biodiversity. -Community participation is instrumental in conserving biodiversity. Ensuring community participation and management rely on encouraging local people to organise and provide efficient and effective stewardship at low cost. -Large environmental NGOs, focused on biodiversity and species conservation, need to broker compacts between foreign aid donors from high-income countries and governments of low-income countries pursuing poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation. -Traditional biodiversity related knowledge has the potential to play a key role in ensuring the sustainable use of biological resources, ultimately leading to biodiversity conservation. This knowledge is based on the long and close association between indigenous peoples and their traditional biological resources, in many cases maintained over thousands of years. -Today climate change is a crisis throughout the world. Biodiversity is a root factor in this current crisis because biodiversity both affects and is affected by climate change. So, development strategies and choices need to recognise and systematically include biodiversity conservation in order to achieve economic development and significantly reduce world poverty. Concluding remarks: Succinctly speaking, Human beings are integral part of nature; our fate is tightly linked with biodiversity. It makes our life soundly possible on Earth, maintaining ecological balance, creating innumerable opportunities for economic well-being, boosting development and alleviating poverty. Biodiversity loss threatens to increase poverty and undermine development. So, biodiversity conservation in a comprehensive way is a must. No more delay! It is time to take actions, direct actions against the continued loss of biodiversity.
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