Biodiversity and people


Pictures symbolizing people and diversityPictures symbolizing people and diversity


People in rich and poor nations use the diversity of nature's resources in very different ways. Contrasting
pictures show a British Laboratory, a Sri Lankan pharmacy, a Tanzanian farmstead, and Hungarian monoculture.




All people, wherever they live, depend heavily on natural resources.

In developing countries, hundreds of millions of people rely directly on what they can grow and harvest from the wild. In Asia and Latin America, some communities use every part of the palm tree: eating its fruit, using its stem and leaves for roofing, building, matting, and fuel, and extracting oils for cooking, medicine, and lighting.

Over half the world' s population treat illnesses with medicines extracted from wild plants and animals, and a similar number depend on wood - most of which is harvested in the wild - for warmth, light, and cooking.

People in the developed world tend to be less conscious of their dependence on natural resources. It' s sometimes hard for them to believe that the frozen pizzas, aspirins, and cotton shirts they buy actually had their roots in the wild. Nevertheless, it is true.


Nature' s diversity supports human life in hundreds of ways.

Scientists believe that at least 80,000 of the world' s plant species can be eaten. A mere 30 of these supply 90% of our nutritional needs. Nature has provided us with a wealth of edible plants and animals, but instead of using them, modern farmers tend to prefer to plant their fields with a single, highly productive, and profitable "superstrain".

In the 1970s, a virus hit Asia' s rice paddies, threatening millions of people with starvation. But then scientists discovered that by cross-breeding an uncultivated species, Oryza nivara, farmers could develop a virus-resistant strain.

Species like Oryza nivara are usually found in the wild or in the fields of small farmers. Many are scarce and dying out. As more are lost, it will be harder to protect crops from pests and disease.

We also obtain many of our medicines from the natural world - codeine and quinine both originated in the wild. Currently, over 40% of the drugs prescribed worldwide are based on natural resources. A few years ago, scientists discovered that chemicals found in Madagascar' s rosy periwinkle could increase the survival rate of children with leukaemia from 20% to 80%, and the bark of the Pacific yew has recently proved to contain an important cancer-fighting substance. The sea, too, helps cure human ailments - 500 marine species yield chemicals which could contribute to cancer treatments.

Finally, plants, animals, and micro-organisms, and the complex communities they form, play an important part in protecting the land we live on. Coral reefs, for example, shelter tropical coastlines from storms and floods, while forests help regulate climate and rainfall, keep soil fertile, and prevent it from washing off hillsides in rainstorms.



Copyright 1996, The World Wide Fund For Nature