Rich in diversity
If one is simply living close to a green space such as a garden, park or forests, one may get health benefits worth up to 300 pounds in the UK. When I read a recently published report of the UK’s National Ecosystem Assessment (NEA), my mind just boggled at the findings, thinking how this type of complex assessment was possible. The report concludes that the UK’s parks, lakes, forests and wildlife are worth billions of pounds to the economy. In order to understand the importance of nature particularly in socioeconomic settings, a new concept has emerged recently in the field of natural science: Ecosystem Services. The concept has been developed to aid our understanding of human use and management of natural resources and the role and value of biodiversity. The concept has broadened the scope of biodiversity conservation by emphasising its importance as a source of ecosystem services. We know that our health and wellbeing depends upon the services provided by ecosystems and their components such as water, soil, nutrients and organisms.
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, an initiative of the UN (2001-2005) to assess the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being, has classified ecosystem services into four groups. First, supporting services include the services that are necessary for the production of all other ecosystem services including soil formation, photosynthesis, primary production, nutrient cycling and water cycling. Second, provisioning services consist of the products obtained from ecosystems, including fresh water, food, fibre, fuel and genetic resources. Third, regulating services comprise the benefits obtained form the regulation of ecosystem processes including regulation of climate, air quality, water quality together with control of disease, wastes and natural hazards such as floods. Fourth, cultural services include the non-material benefits we obtain from ecosystem through spiritual enrichment, recreation and aesthetic experiences.
The concept of ecosystem services is centred around the notion that there is a close link and dynamic between people, biodiversity and ecosystems. Biodiversity is a modern term which simply means “the variety of life on earth”. This variety can be measured on several different levels. The variety could be in genetic variation between individuals of the same species as well as variation between different populations of the same species.
As a quest, one can ask how many species are there on the earth. The answer is this: we simply don’t know the exact number. New species are continually being discovered every year. It is estimated that global species estimates range from 2 million to 100 million species. There are many less well explored and little-known habitats on the earth such as the untouched rain forests, the soil beneath our feet and the deep sea. That is why the estimates of global species diversity vary enormously. It has been estimated that the deep sea floor may contain as many as a million unidentified new species.
A question may arise: does it really matter if there aren’t so many species on the earth? The answer is: it definitely matters. Biodiversity boosts ecosystem productivity where each species, no matter how small, all have an important role to play. For example, a larger number of plant species means a greater variety of crops; greater species diversity ensures natural sustainability for all life forms; and healthy ecosystems can better withstand and recover from a variety of disasters. An example is worth citing to illustrate the economic or financial value of ecosystems. Over 100, 000 different species provide free pollination services to enable production of food grains. A study has shown that the value of pollination services f
rom the wild pollinators in the US alone is estimated at US$ 4-6
billion per year.
In the context of Nepal, the economic well-being of the people is closely related to the natural resources—agricultural land, wetlands, forests, and protected areas including ice-capped mountains. Although only 20 percent of land area is agricultural, agriculture is the major determinant of economic development. The high demand for agricultural land has led to considerable deforestation and loss of land cover in the recent past. According to Biodiversity Profile of Nepal (1996), Nepal ranks 10th in terms of richest flowering plant diversity in Asia.
It has been recognised that ecosystem services directly support more than one billion people living in extreme poverty in the world. Several studies have indicated that the rates of biodiversity loss have remained steady over the last few decades. As elsewhere, Nepal faces the emerging challenges in conserving biodiversity and ecosystem services due to growing population, poverty, habitat loss and degradation of crop genetic diversity. The problems have been compounded by the impacts of climate change which is being realised through the changes in biodiversity distribution and additional threats to the extinction of important species. The degradation of biodiversity and ecosystems also imperils achieving the Millennium Development Goals of reducing poverty, hunger, ill health and nutrition. We need to appreciate that there are economic, institutional and social challenges confronting scientists and policy makers
in conserving biodiversity and ecosystem services that are critical for sustaining human well-being and development.
In the recent times, great strides have been taken particularly in respect of ecosystem conservation measures and wider public involvement. Wider public awareness and appreciation in the policy level is a vital element of the success of such measures. Nepal has so many strong cases to showcase the success stories of biodiversity conservation in the national and international levels. Success of community forestry, for example, will strengthen our commitment to the goals of biodiversity conservation. In the upcoming landmark United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio summit in June 2012), Nepal must raise the strong voice of biodiversity conservation and the threats of climate change. This will be a good opportunity for Nepal to seek ways of trading the benefits from the preservation of the valuable ecosystems in the international carbon markets that will help us promote ecosystem services and sustainable development.
Ghimire is with the James Hutton Institute for interdisciplinary scientific research in Scotland, UK
sohan_kr@hotmail.com
Posted on: 2011-10-21 08:33
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