WHY bother saving species from extinction? To committed conservationists the question may seem almost sacrilegious, but it is one to which we urgently need answers that will convince a wider audience. Unless the conservation movement can come up with some, it will fail in its goal of protecting the planet鈥檚 biodiversity.
The signs are not good. The World Conservation Union鈥檚 latest reveals that more than 16,000 are heading for extinction (see 鈥淩adical rethink required to save rare species鈥�). Some, such as the Yangtze river dolphin, may be beyond recall (see 鈥淭he baiji: So long and thanks for all the fish鈥�). What is clear is that the traditional approach of appealing to the inherent moral or aesthetic value of preserving ecosystems is not working. Conservation hardly gets a look-in when it comes to economic and political decision-making, and it is ignored by the majority of people occupied with the day-to-day struggle for economic survival.
What can be done to persuade people to take biodiversity more seriously? For a start, conservationists need to speak with one voice. Many organisations are striving to save the same species, with no clear sense of priorities. In any sphere, it is usually those movements that put up a unified front which achieve the most significant change.
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Conservationists need to be able to show that saving species and habitats is in everybody鈥檚 interests. With a majority of the world鈥檚 population now living in cities, the idea that we are all part of nature is becoming alien to ever more people. In the rich world, most of us are too worried about the impact of the current debt crisis on our mortgages to give much thought to the economic impact of the loss of a wetland.
Yet there is a connection. Take, for example, the importance of forests in preventing soil erosion and recycling carbon, or the role of insects in pollinating crops. Making these links tangible could persuade more people to act in the interests of conservation. This is the logic behind the growing 鈥渆cosystem services鈥� approach: first calculate the cash value of the services an ecosystem provides, such as flood control or ecotourism, then set up incentives to ensure those services are maintained.
Some conservationists are alarmed by this utilitarian idea, arguing there is little evidence that it works. They have a point. Indeed, conservationists have a poor record of establishing which of their strategies do work. Gathering such evidence is essential, particularly when trying something new. Ecosystem services schemes are springing up across the world, but too few of them include adequate provision for monitoring. More thinking also needs to go into developing the financial instruments required to make the approach work. We need to do more than just put a price on nature鈥檚 head and hope for the best.
