1. In various Indian cultural and religious traditions, biodiversity finds protection and reverence, as seen in festivals and practices. For instance, Nagpanchami celebrates the respect for snakes, acknowledging their role in the ecosystem by controlling the rat population.
2. The Vatapournima festival involves the worship of a banyan tree, showcasing the cultural significance of plants.
3. Numerous festivals across different religions emphasize the value of plants and animals, even designating specific days for the worship of cattle.
4. The Jain religion strongly promotes animal protection through vegetarianism, contributing to biodiversity conservation.
Conservation can be driven by utilitarian or ethical reasons. Utilitarian reasons are further categorized into narrowly and broadly utilitarian:
Narrowly utilitarian reasons:
1. Humans derive material benefits from biodiversity, fulfilling basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter.
2. Biodiversity resources contribute to industrial products like resins, tannins, and perfume bases.
3. Aesthetic purposes, including crafting ornaments and artifacts, often involve the sacrifice of biodiversity.
4. Many medicines, constituting 25% of the global medicine market, are derived from biodiversity resources.
5. Traditional medicines used by tribal populations worldwide involve around 25,000 species.
6. Bioprospecting, a systematic search for valuable products from nature, is driven by biodiversity, focusing on economically important species.
Broadly utilitarian reasons:
1. All green plants, particularly in the Amazon forest providing 25% of the world’s oxygen, contribute to human survival.
2. Insects play a crucial role in pollination and seed dispersal.
3. Without insects’ pollination and seed dispersal, human food sources would be severely impacted.
4. Biodiversity enhances human recreation and well-being.
Considering these aspects, the conservation of biodiversity becomes imperative, encompassing both utilitarian and ethical reasons.