Jump to content

User:Manxshearwater/economicsofbiodiversity

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
< User:Manxshearwater

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Manxshearwater (talk | contribs) at 18:17, 19 July 2024 (→Medication). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Economics of biodiversity

Biodiversity plays an essential role in the global economy. [1] This includes its role in providing ecosystem services - the benefits that humans get from ecosystems. Biodiversity plays a major role in the productivity and functioning of ecosystems, affects their ability to provide ecosystem services.[2] For example, biodiversity is a source of food, medication, and materials used in industry. Recreation and tourism are also examples of human economic activities that rely on these benefits. In 2018, the WWF Living Planet Report estimated that ecosystem services contributed US$125 trillion a year to the global economy.[3]

The benefits of biodiversity are often evaluated in an anthropocentric way and the inherent value of biodiversity, outside of its benefits to humanity, has been debated by economists.[4][5] Despite these benefits, economic activities often result in harm to biodiversity, such as through deforestation.[1]

Food

Main article: Biodiversity and food

Despite this, the global food system is the primary driver of biodiversity loss.[6]

Soil biodiversity plays an essential role in food production.[7]

Medicine

Main article: Biodiversity and drugs

Biodiversity plays a vital role in the maintenance of human health through the use of plants, animals, and fungi within medicine. This has significant economic implications, including through the sale of naturally-derived medicines in the pharmaceutical industry.

Industry

Further information: Ecosystem service

Horticulture

Horticulture refers to the small-scale cultivation of plants, such as for use in gardening or landscaping. These plants may be used for food, medicine, or aesthetic and ornamental purposes.[8] Horticultural plant biodiversity is important to the economy and examples include fruits, vegetables, and ornamental plants. For example, in the UK, growth of ornamental plants was worth £1.7 billion in 2023.[9]

Recreation and tourism

Further information: Ecotourism and Sustainable tourism

Through cultural ecosystem services, biodiversity provides economic benefits in the form of recreation and tourism, while also benefitting human wellbeing.[10][11] Biodiversity influences the potential of ecosystems to provide recreational services.[12] This includes outdoor recreation, such as hiking, hunting, fishing, and wildlife watching.

Another form of recreation supported by biodiversity is tourism. Biodiversity is "at the heart of what drives the tourism industry", according to the United Nations Environment Programme.[13] The beauty of tourist destinations or the species they support can attract tourists to visit certain areas.[14] For example, destinations like rainforests, beaches, national parks, and nature reserves are attractive to tourists. The revenue generated through tourism is vital to many economies worldwide.[15]

Nature-based tourism, such as to visit protected areas, also has an important economic impact.[16] For example, ecotourism, where the motivation of tourists is to observe and appreciate nature and the cultures in natural areas, while supporting their maintenance.[17] In 2023, the global ecotourism market was estimated to be worth US$216.49 billion.[18]

Despite the economic benefits from biodiversity through tourism, the tourism industry has negative impacts on biodiversity.[14] For example, through habitat destruction and pollution. As a result, sustainable tourism emerged with the aim of reducing the negative impacts of tourism on the environment.

Impact of economic activity on biodiversity

Further information: Biodiversity loss

Despite the role of biodiversity in underpinning the economy, economic activities often cause harm to biodiversity. For example, through over-exploitation of species, land-use change, and agriculture.

References

  1. ^ a b Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA), Ecosystems and human well-being: synthesis, Island Press, Washington, DC, 2005, p. 137.
  2. ^ Tilman, David; Isbell, Forest; Cowles, Jane M. (2014-11-23). "Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning". Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics. 45 (1): 471–493. doi:10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-120213-091917. ISSN 1543-592X.
  3. ^ WWF. 2018. Living Planet Report - 2018: Aiming Higher. Grooten, M. and Almond, R.E.A.(Eds). WWF, Gland, Switzerland.
  4. ^ Gómez-Baggethun, Erik; de Groot, Rudolf; Lomas, Pedro L.; Montes, Carlos (2009-12-13). "The history of ecosystem services in economic theory and practice: From early notions to markets and payment schemes". Ecological Economics. 69 (6): 1209–1218. doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2009.11.007.
  5. ^ Seddon, Nathalie; Mace, Georgina M.; Naeem, Shahid; Tobias, Joseph A.; Pigot, Alex L.; Cavanagh, Rachel; Mouillot, David; Vause, James; Walpole, Matt (2016-11-01). "Biodiversity in the Anthropocene: prospects and policy". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 283 (1844): 20162094. doi:10.1098/rspb.2016.2094. ISSN 0962-8452. PMC 5204156. PMID 27928040.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: PMC format (link)
  6. ^ "Our global food system is the primary driver of biodiversity loss". www.unep.org. 2021-02-03. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
  7. ^ El Mujtar, V.; Muñoz, N.; Prack Mc Cormick, B.; Pulleman, M.; Tittonell, P. (2019-01-23). "Role and management of soil biodiversity for food security and nutrition; where do we stand?". Global Food Security. 20: 132–144. doi:10.1016/j.gfs.2019.01.007.
  8. ^ Kumar, Ashwani (2014), Nandwani, Dilip (ed.), "Role of Horticulture in Biodiversity Conservation", Sustainable Horticultural Systems, vol. 2, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 143–155, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-06904-3_7, ISBN 978-3-319-06903-6, retrieved 2024-07-19
  9. ^ "Horticulture statistics - 2023". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
  10. ^ Paracchini, Maria Luisa; Zulian, Grazia; Kopperoinen, Leena; Maes, Joachim; Schägner, Jan Philipp; Termansen, Mette; Zandersen, Marianne; Perez-Soba, Marta; Scholefield, Paul A.; Bidoglio, Giovanni (2014-04-08). "Mapping cultural ecosystem services: A framework to assess the potential for outdoor recreation across the EU". Ecological Indicators. 45: 371–385. doi:10.1016/j.ecolind.2014.04.018. ISSN 1470-160X.
  11. ^ "Economic Benefits of Outdoor Recreation And Tourism : WeConservePA Library". library.weconservepa.org. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
  12. ^ Mancini, Francesca; Coghill, George M.; Lusseau, David (2019-01-31). Wiersma, Yolanda (ed.). "Quantifying wildlife watchers' preferences to investigate the overlap between recreational and conservation value of natural areas". Journal of Applied Ecology. 56 (2): 387–397. doi:10.1111/1365-2664.13274. ISSN 0021-8901.
  13. ^ "No guilt trips: Tourism is part of the solution for nature". Convention on Biological Diversity. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
  14. ^ a b Jones, Peter (2022-08-25). "Tourism and Biodiversity: A Paradoxical Relationship" (PDF). Athens Journal of Tourism. 9 (3): 151–162. doi:10.30958/ajt.9-3-2.
  15. ^ Naseem, Sana (2021-08-18). "The Role of Tourism in Economic Growth: Empirical Evidence from Saudi Arabia". Economies. 9 (3): 117. doi:10.3390/economies9030117. ISSN 2227-7099.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link)
  16. ^ Gupta A, Zhu H, Bhammar H, Earley E, Filipski M, Narain U, et al. (2023) Economic impact of nature-based tourism. PLoS ONE 18(4): e0282912. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0282912
  17. ^ "Ecotourism and Protected areas | UN Tourism". www.unwto.org. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
  18. ^ "Ecotourism Market Size, Share, Growth | Various Trends [2032]". www.fortunebusinessinsights.com. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Manxshearwater/economicsofbiodiversity&oldid=1235521057"