http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/11/01/value.nature.conservation/index.html?iref=allsearch
Contrary to popular belief, a lot of money can be made by conserving ecosystems. Currently, grasslands, forests and mangroves are all being destroyed at an alarming rate to make room for new agriculture and industry. While these things will all bring in money, it has recently been found that conserving natural ecosystems can actually generate greater returns than many industries. Conservation not only maintains biodiversity, but also can bring in revenue through ecotourism and land protection. Ecotourism brings in billions of dollars a year across the globe when people go to visit beautiful natural ecosystems. These natural ecosystems also serve to protect land from the weather. Deforestation and grassland destruction both cause soil erosion, and destroying mangrove forests leaves lands susceptible to hurricanes and floods; in Vietnam mangrove forests were planted around the coast that eventually saved $7.3 million in dyke maintenance. These economic incentives are causing people to think twice before destroying natural environments.
Biodiversity has never been enough to prevent people from destroying ecosystems, but with these new findings people will hopefully understand the importance of conservation. Many people are so money hungry that they rarely have any remorse for destroying a beautiful landscape, but now their greed can actually assist in conservation. There are estimates that a single hectare of coral reef could be worth upwards of a million dollars a year from tourism alone. It seems to me that that should be reason enough to conserve the reef, but there is also the added bonus of aiding biodiversity. As climate change worsens there is also an increased threat to biodiversity, in order to prevent drastic extinctions from occurring in the near future we have to act now to preserver biodiversity. As if that wasn’t enough reason to preserve ecosystems hopefully people will begin to realize the many economic benefits of conservation.
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I feel that this is one of the major misconceptions today, in that it'll cost a ton to reduce our footprint. But it takes money to make money, or in this case to preserve our planet.
ReplyDeleteIn this case the benefits clearly outweigh the costs. Environmental protection is absolutely necessary, no matter the cost. Funding for environmental protection needs to be present in order to preserve the PRICELESS EARTH.
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