Nine Reasons To Save Biodiversity

Nine reasons to save the Biodiversity of Life:

1 Feedind the World. (Agriculture)

A mere 20 species provide about 90 percent of the world's food. All major food crops, including corn, wheat (blé), and soybeans (soja), depend on the introduction of new strains (gen à vérifier) from the wild to cope (faire face, se débrouiller...) with evolving disease and pests.

If those strains are lost, the security of our food supply (réserves de nourriture à vérifier) will be threatened (menacées).

For example:

a wild relative of corn (une parente sauvage à vérifier) called milpilla (Zea diploperennis) is exceptionally disease-resistant and is the only perennial (vivace) in the corn family. If successfully interbred (croisée) with domestic corn, its genes could boost corn production by billions of dollars. Zea diploperennis grows on only one mountain in western Mexico.

2 Cures for what alls us (medicine)

Forty percent of all prescriptions dispensed in the United States are for substances derived from plants, animals, or microorganisms.

The list of wonder drugs (médicaments miracles) originated from wild species includes aspirin for pain relief (from meadowsweet), penicillin for antibiotics (from the pencillium fungi), digitoxin for cardiac treatment (from common foxglove), L-dopa for Parkinson's disease (from velvet bean), taxol for ovarian cancer (from the Pacific yew), and quinine for malaria (from yellow cinchona). who knows what treasures await us in as yet undiscovered species?

3. A wealth (fortune) of Natural Resources (Economy)

Society derives (tirer, retirer) most of life's necessities—food, clothing, medicin (nécessités alimentaires, de vêtements et de médicaments) from just a small number of plants and animals. Thousands of natural products are used routinely by industry to produce everyday goods. Consider just one wild source, the humble seaweeds. Compounds derived (les composés dérivés) from seaweeds are used in plastics, polishes, paints, deodorants, detergents, dyes (colorants), fire-extinguishing foams (la mousse des extincteurs), lubricants , meat preservatives (conservateurs de viande), and chicken feed, to name a few among hundreds of products. By preserving the diversity of life, we act as trustee (fiduciaire) for the planet, preserving genetic capital for use by future generations.

4 Life support for the Planet (Ecosystem Services)

Ecologists and economists are only beginning to estimate the value of the services that healthy ecosystems provide to our planet. Bacteria break down organic material, building and fertilizing the soil. Wetlands filter pollutants from drinking water. Trees and plants return oxygen to the air through photosynthesis. Vast South American forests create rainfall on a continental scale, and store carbon as a buffer against global climate change. If it were ever possible for humankind to artificially duplicate these services, (Si il était possible de reproduire artificiellement ces services) the cost would run to trillions of dollars annually.

5. By Precaution:

Some species

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