biodiversity

Biodiversity
It’s everyone’s business
What is biodiversity?
Biological diversity, or biodiversity is the
variety of all living organisms, including all
species. It can be defined as ‘the variety of
life forms, the different plants, animals and
micro-organisms, the genes they contain, and
the ecosystems they form’. The concept
emphasises the dynamic interrelationships
occurring in the biological world in which
humans now play an integral management
role and is usually considered at three
levels.
Genetic diversity is the variety of genetic
information contained in all individual
plants, animals and micro-organisms.
Species diversity is the variety of species
on earth. Species diversity is usually a
measure of the number of species (richness)
and their relative abundances for a given
area at a given point in time.
Ecosystem diversity is the variety of
habitats, biotic communities and ecological
processes. An ecosystem consists of plant,
animal, fungal and micro-organism
communities and the associated non-living
environment interacting as an ecological
unit. Ecosystem diversity has two interrelated
components: the diversity of
communities of species and the diversity of
interactions between community members
(called processes).
Why is biodiversity important?
Biodiversity values are important because:
• At the most fundamental level,
biodiversity provides the basis for all life on
earth, ensuring clean air and water, fertile
soils and healthy, functioning ecosystems
necessary to maintain essential ecosystem
services such as soil formation and
nutrient storage and cycling.
• Biodiversity provides all of our food and
the raw materials for a wide range of
products, for example clothing and
medicinal goods.
• Biodiversity provides opportunities for
recreation, tourism, scientific research
and education.
• Biodiversity is a source of cultural
identity for many Australians,
particularly for Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander people.
• There is a growing community
recognition of the intrinsic values of
biodiversity, such as the right of all
species to exist regardless of their value
to humans.
Financial benefits of the value of
biodiversity are difficult to estimate, but
can be described both as the economic
benefits of biodiversity, and the costs of not
protecting biodiversity.
At the broadest scale, the short term
economic benefits of ecosystem services
have been calculated at US$22 trillion
annually. This is almost twice the global
gross national product. Closer to home,
examples of financial estimates include:
• The contribution of koalas to the
tourism industry is estimated at $1.1
billion per year, or around 9,000 jobs,
• Whale-watching is a $50 million a year
industry in Australia, and
• The annual economic value of Dorrigo
National Park is $5.4 million,
contributing 8.4% of regional
employment.
The cost of not protecting biodiversity is
likely to be substantial, and in many cases
the loss of biodiversity will be irreversible.
The impacts of failing to maintain healthy,
functioning ecosystems are already obvious
in many areas, for example:
• Approximately 72% of NSW is affected
by some form of land degradation;
• Soil structure decline is costing
Australian farmers around $200 million
annually;
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