Disappearing Species: The Social Challenge. Worldwatch Paper 22

A key question to ask in determining whether a solution will be found to the current worldwide destruction of plant and animal life is whether people will learn to reconcile effectively the demands of environmental conservationists and developers. Probably the most immediate threat which ecological destruction poses to human welfare is shrinkage of the plant genepools available to agricultural scientists, farmers, and foresters. Additional problems are the extinction of species with economic or medical value and the ecological disturbances which result from the loss of any species. Demands for rapid economic and social development in Third World nations present particular problems for long-term environmental conservation. Unless national and international economic systems provide more opportunity for advancement, the dispossessed will naturally molest legally protected lands, trees, and animals. Environmental planners in all nations and foreign aid agencies in developed nations must incorporate concern for preservation of biological diversity into their policy decisions. A start toward the creation of needed ecological protectorates was made in 1978 when UNESCO designated 144 areas in 35 nations as part of a global network of Biosphere Reserves. The conclusion is that developers and conservationists must cooperate to develop policies to keep the biosphere in good order, slow the population growth, and satisfy people's basic needs. (Author/DB)