Biodiversity & Conservation

Overview:
	Biological diversity or "biodiversity" is recognized to be important for society's well-being. We value biodiversity for the goods and services it provides (plant and animal products, genetic materials for medicinal uses, etc.), for the functioning of essential ecosystems (cycles and systems of water, air, nutrient), and also for the amenities it provides (wildlife viewing, existence of unique species). Importantly, many people value biodiversity not only for the direct and indirect ways it is useful, but also because of a sense of moral obligation of stewardship to protect the world's natural systems. Biodiversity, however, is vulnerable to the "tragedy of the commons" whereby public good or shared resource becomes degraded by the cumulative effects of individual's actions. Actions that can affect biodiversity adversely include land and watercourse alteration, harvesting of species, pollution of air, water, land and atmosphere, and the introduction of non-native species. In order to avoid undesirable losses of biodiversity, collective decisions and institutions are needed to evaluate the status of biodiversity losses, and evaluate how best to protect species and ecosystems in the most cost-effective ways. Economics can play two roles here. First, economic methods can be used to estimate the value of biodiversity so that comparisons of the relative importance of different ecosystems and species can be compared to the cost of protecting or restoring them. Second, economic analysis can offer insights into the specific causes and potential solutions to some of the ways in which biodiversity losses occur. For example, economists evaluate the range of mechanisms or institutions that may have advantages or disadvantages depending on the circumstances. These include private property, public property, common-pool resource management, conservation easements, habitat conservation plans and a range of economic incentive approaches.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
	Are species going extinct faster now than in the distant past?
	What is the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment? [PDF]
	What do the nation's top scientists say about the Endangered Species Act?
	What is meant by "voluntary incentives" or "voluntary conservation"?
	Is "voluntary conservation" a win-win opportunity?
	What is a habitat Conservation Plan?
	What is a conservation easement?
	What are transferable development rights?
Publications, Presentations and Working Papers and Publications:
	The economic value of biodiversity Jeff Bennett.
	Biodiversity Prospecting: Shopping the Wilds is Not the Key to Conservation [PDF], by R. David Simpson. (Resources for the Future Economist R. David Simpson argues that bioprospecting may not be the most compelling reason for conserving biological diversity.)
Other Resources and Internet Links:
	Environmental Literacy Council (for more background on biodiversity)
	The World Conservation Union
	The 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
	Biodiversity Data Tables (World Resources Institute Earth Trends)
	U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS)
	List of Endangered and Threatened Species (from USFWS)
	National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Species Information
	Science and the Endangered Species Act (National Research Council, Commission on Life Sciences)
	Text of the Endangered Species Act (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)