Is It Essential To Invest Significantly In Plant And Wildlife Preservation?

 The news that wildlife is at risk seems upsetting... in the start but numbs eventually. It doesn't matter if it is the California condors, tigers, pandas, mountain gorillas, or the coral reefs.

Is worrying about them worth it? Certainly! If cute pandas vanished, we will feel sad, but we don't depend on them. Nevertheless, it is extremely crucial to care about humans rather than spending millions on animal preservation.

The cost of preserving wild and plant life is significant - Is it essential?

There are multiple reasons why we must not save the endangered species. The astounding cost is the most obvious one. Billions are spent every year in the conservation of endangered wildlife rather than taking care of starving, dying, or sick people. It is hard to understand the reason for preserving predators like wolves and tigers, who are a threat to cattle and people.

Actually, extinction is natural, and the ones we are aware of is the disappearance of dinosaurs 65 million years in the past. Nonetheless, species are vanishing faster than ever. It has increased a hundredfold across the last century. The humans are to be blamed. Fortunately, humans adore the natural world, and even wild animals are thought to be fascinating, majestic, and cute.

The aesthetic value of beautiful nature is worth it, so some prefer that it needs to be preserved just like paintings and architecture. However, some people don't connect with animals or plants, which are plain obscure, ugly, or smelly.

In Western countries, tigers are preserved because they look nice. In rural India, they are not welcome because tigers are a threat to their family. You can see that every person has their likes and dislikes, but there is a need for practical reason to conserve endangered wildlife.

Practical reasons to invest in wildlife preservation

Nature offers myriads of 'Ecosystem Services'

• The bio-prospecting process includes exploring nature to discover useful commercial products. New medicines can get discovered without trekking dangerous miles in the jungle with the dim hope of uncovering a miracle plant species.

• Besides, there is the issue of local people who are already familiar with the medicinal plant uses and don't like strangers trying to designate them.

• The other dilemma is what happens to those species, which are not useful. For example, the Mountain Gorillas blood is impossible to hold a therapeutic use for cancer.

• Fortunately, biologists revealed in 1990 that the plants and animals benefit humans by being there. They offer 'Ecosystem services', which we take for granted.

• The services can be direct or indirect. For example, green plants and sea plankton offer pure oxygen, which is a direct and obvious service. On the other hand, bumblebees are pollinating insects that help several crop plants to produce seeds, or they will not survive or give us food. Their services are subtle, so the decline of pollinating insects can be a concern.

Imagine if there were no plants on the earth, humans would need to engineer a chemical processing plant to produce oxygen and even water. If there was nothing to eat, then produce artificial food, which will be hard to digest.

Will you be able to create good microorganisms living in the gut artificially? Instead of, going through all the stress, it seems simple to allow the current wildlife to take care of it for us. The ecosystem services stretch is extraordinarily wide and gigantic when everything gets added.

Strong Ecotourism

• Preserving wildlife is not 'Nature for itself', but can be morally regarded to be 'Nature for people' due to the concept of ecosystem services. Even if you don't care for the wildlife it holds a strong value for the ecotourism sector.

• If you take a selective approach towards conservation like keeping things that attract tourists and leave the rest to go extinct.

• Nevertheless, for specific wildlife, there will be a need for a thick jungle full of trees, which cannot be ignored. It even means you will need to conserve other animals that will help to shape the plant community.

• For many people living near forests plan safari holidays and takes tourists to see the wildlife. These people benefit from the conservation of wildlife. Running tours pay better than farming. Ecotourism is a way, where nature compensates for itself.

Keeps ecosystem stable and resilient

• You cannot separate a couple of wildlife species from the wider network. If you wipe a single species there may not be an issue or it can trigger a domino effect that can change the whole ecosystem.

• Prediction is hard! You can find out if you allow the species to vanish only to find it is very late for reversing the situation. Conservation of the forest is not just saving the wild species, but it ensures regular water supply.

• We have experienced weather fluctuations. Too much rain means floods, and too less defines a drought. Both are life-threatening. The trees on hills ensure a reliable freshwater supply for people residing on lowlands. Forests need to be stable and resilient.

• According to ecologists, ecosystems with a wide range of plant and animal species are stable and strong. They are less susceptible to unexpected die-backs. For example, a small vague worm is not helpful to humans but possibly supports the ecosystem that provides valuable services.