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What is the importance and value of biodiversity? 


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Biodiversity holds immense importance and value due to its various facets. It encompasses distinctiveness at all levels of life, from genes to ecosystems . The presence of numerous species correlates with ecosystem benefits like plant productivity and stability, while loss of species can lead to ecosystem collapse . Humans, as part of biodiversity, rely on other species for sustenance and inspiration for innovation . Biodiversity also provides essential ecosystem services crucial for sustainable development and supporting life, with Africa's rich biodiversity facing threats from human activities . To ensure the long-term benefits of biodiversity, sustainable use practices, institutional mechanisms, policy enforcement, data collection, awareness, community involvement, and mainstreaming biodiversity across sectors are vital .

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Open accessPosted ContentDOI
11 Sep 2022
Biodiversity holds value in providing inspiration for innovation, beyond its known benefits, as highlighted in the paper "A contemplation on the values of biodiversity."
Book ChapterDOI
24 Nov 2022
Biodiversity's value lies in ecosystem benefits like clean water, plant productivity, and crop pollination efficiency. Species loss can disrupt ecosystems and impact medicine and food sources.
Biodiversity provides essential ecosystem services crucial for sustainable development, supporting life and contributing to achieving Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in Africa with its rich but threatened biodiversity.
Biodiversity is crucial as it represents natural capital, offering unique genetic influences at various levels of life. Its loss threatens food production, health protection, and global conservation efforts.

Related Questions

What is importance of biodiversity to ecosystem?5 answersBiodiversity plays a crucial role in maintaining ecosystem functionality and supporting human well-being. It underpins ecosystem multifunctionality by influencing key axes such as productivity, water use efficiency, and carbon use efficiency. Biodiversity encompasses the variability of living organisms within and between species, essential for sustainable development, climate change mitigation, and disaster risk reduction. Changes in biodiversity can have significant consequences for ecosystem functionality, emphasizing the need to retain high levels of diversity to support multiple ecosystem functions effectively. Human health is intricately linked to ecosystem services provided by biodiversity, including production, regulatory, cultural, and habitat services, highlighting the importance of biodiversity conservation for overall well-being. Overall, biodiversity is fundamental for ecosystem resilience, resource provision, and human health, making its conservation critical for the sustainability of ecosystems and human societies.
Why biodiversity is important?5 answersBiodiversity is important because it is essential for sustainable development and human well-being. It helps mitigate climate change, reduce disaster risk, and underpins the provision of food, fiber, and water. Biodiversity also plays a crucial role in human health, as it provides ecosystem services such as the production of medicines and food, regulation of diseases, and improvement of living environment quality. Additionally, biodiversity contributes to the livelihood of people by providing resources such as fuel wood, fodder, construction materials, and medicine. Furthermore, biodiversity is important for the stability and resilience of ecosystems, as it encompasses various dimensions such as genetic, spatial, structural, functional, and temporal aspects. Overall, biodiversity is vital for the existence and well-being of both humans and the planet, and its conservation is crucial to ensure a sustainable future.
What is the benefit of biodiversity?5 answersBiodiversity provides numerous benefits. It contributes to the stability and productivity of ecosystems, including plant productivity and crop pollination efficiency. Biodiversity also plays a crucial role in promoting human health by reducing the transmission of infectious diseases. Additionally, biodiversity is essential for sustainable development and human well-being, as it underpins the provision of food, fiber, and water, and helps mitigate climate change and reduce disaster risk. Furthermore, biodiversity serves as a source of inspiration for innovation. Genetic diversity, a component of biodiversity, is important for species and ecosystem diversity, and its conservation supports agro-eco edu-tourism programs, providing benefits such as recreation and education. Overall, biodiversity is vital for the functioning of ecosystems, human health, sustainable development, and innovation.
Importance of biodiversity?5 answersBiodiversity is of great importance for various reasons. It provides essential components for human survival, such as food, medicine, and industrial products. Natural substances derived from biodiversity have been used for therapeutic drugs, and the search for new natural products continues to provide structural diversity for drug discovery. Biodiversity also plays a fundamental role in organic and sustainable food production, ensuring a wide range of foods and raw materials. Additionally, biodiversity contributes to ecosystem processes that support ecological, economic, and social well-being, including coping with environmental shocks, enhancing food security, and providing various services to people. However, biodiversity is currently being threatened by factors such as pollution, habitat loss, and species extinctions, which can have negative impacts on future generations' quality of life.
What is the importance of biodiversity?5 answersBiodiversity is important for several reasons. Firstly, it has intrinsic value and as the dominant species on Earth, humans have an ethical responsibility towards other living organisms. Secondly, biodiversity contributes to numerous ecosystem processes that support ecological, economic, and social well-being. It enhances the ability of ecosystems to cope with environmental shocks, supports food security, and provides opportunities for indigenous communities. Thirdly, biodiversity provides direct economic values, including food, medicines, and industrial products, with the potential for even more benefits from nature's genetic library. Lastly, plants, animals, and microorganisms provide free ecosystem services that are essential for human civilization, such as controlling the atmosphere, generating soils, and running biogeochemical cycles. The present extinction episode caused by human activity seriously jeopardizes the ethical, aesthetic, direct economic, and life-support values of biodiversity.
Why is biodiversity so important and worthy of protection?5 answersBiodiversity is important and worthy of protection because it is the foundation of ecosystems and provides essential services for human survival and civilization. It plays a crucial role in maintaining the biological balance and health of ecosystems. Biodiversity conservation is necessary to ensure the long-term sustainability of natural resources and the integration of biodiversity into development activities. Protected areas have a unique and fundamental role in conserving biodiversity, especially for imperiled species. The protection of biodiversity is crucial for preserving options for food, medicine, ecological resilience, and cultural values. Designing effective conservation policies that maximize the protection of biodiversity within limited budgets is essential. Artificial intelligence and monitoring techniques can greatly contribute to improving biodiversity conservation in a rapidly changing world.

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