Value of Biodiversity and the Preservation of Species Essay -- Nature

Value of Biodiversity and the Preservation of Species As a result of the increasing environmental awareness of scientists and laymen, new issues have evolved around pressing ecological problems. Ecologists have discovered how important retaining biodiversity really is to humanity. While politicians often have other economic agendas, environmentalists are working hard to push this relatively new knowledge through political institutions using economic arguments. The preservation of our surroundings can create new jobs and promote economic efficiency, more so than the jobs which are currently destroying our ecosystem. For example, in a few years, workers in the fishing industry may be out of jobs due to over-consumption of certain species of fish and the lack of management to preserve these animals. For Christians, biblical reasons also apply to this desire to preserve what remains of our biodiversity. Holistic human life depends on the relationship between humankind and species found in nature; thus humankind must develop respect and crit ical understanding of the interaction of human and non-human species, and realize the necessity of preserving the earth's great biodiversity. Biodiversity Conservation biology became a formal discipline in the 1980s. Its aim was to connect ecology and evolutionary biology, as well as conserve biodiversity (Takacs, 1996). The mission of this new field was to document the earth's deterioration and to promote ways of reversing this situation. In 1986 the National Research Council held a National Forum on biodiversity (Takacs, 1996), and from this conscience-raising event, scientists publicly agreed on the importance of saving the different species of the world (Takacs, 1996). Preservation... ... fires says the aim was to help lynx. CNN Interactive . Accessed Oct. 30, 1998. URL: http://cnn.com/TECH/science/9810/22/vail.fire.02/ Rohlf, Daniel J. (1994). Six biological reasons why the endangered species act doesn't work and what to do about it . In Environmental Policy and Biodiversity ed. R. Edward Grumbine. Washington D. C.: Island Press. Sebastian, Matt. (1998, Oct. 23). Arson in vail fires confirmed . Boulder News . Accessed Oct. 30, 1998. URL: http://www.bouldernews.com/news/local/23morvai.html. Takacs, David. (1996). The Idea of Biodiversity: Philosophies of Paradise. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. Tuxill, John. (1998). Losing Strands in the Web of Life . Washington D. C.: Worldwatch Institute. Walters, Mark Jerome. (1997). Sanctuary . In Wildlife Conservation . ed. Hillary D. Claggett. New York: H.W. Wilson Company.