Benefits of biodiversity includes direct, indirect consumptive use values, productive usevalues, social value, ethical and moral values, aesthetic value, option and environmental services, cultural and spiritual values are covered in this presentation.

1. BIODIVERSITY VALUES
DR. NAGABHUSHAN CHARANTIMATH
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR,
DEPT. OF STUDIES IN ZOOLOGY,
VIJAYANAGARA SRI KRISHNADEVARAYA UNIVERSITY, BALLARI
9880121090, NAGABHUSHANCM@VSKUB.AC.IN
VIJAYANAGARA SRIKRISHNADEVARAYA UNIVERSITY, BALLARI
DEPARTMENT OF STUDIES IN ZOOLOGY

2. OVERVIEW
1. Introduction.
2. Consumptive use value.
3. Productive use value.
4. Social value.
5. Ethical and moral value.
6. Aesthetic value.
7. Option and environmental service values
8. Cultural and spiritual values

3. INTRODUCTION
• The variety of living organisms found on earth with all
its surrounding natural processes including
ecosystem/ habitat/ species/ genetic / cultural diversity and
the connection between all of these.

4. WHAT KIND OF VALUES ?
• BD provides a variety of environmental services from species to
ecosystems essential at global, regional and local levels .
• Loss of biodiversity contributes to climatic change.
• Forest converts carbon dioxide into carbon and oxygen.
• Loss of forest cover due to carbon dioxide and other gases due to
industrialization which contributes to ‘Green House Effect’.
• Green house leads to Global warming which causes various
consequences.

5. WHAT KIND OF VALUES ?
• Biological diversity aids in preserving ecological processes.
• Preservation of biological resources is essential for the well-being
and long-lasting human welfare.
• Tribal communities who gather resources from the forest or fisher folk
who catch fish in marine or freshwater ecosystems are directly or indirectly
linked to the biodiversity.
• Agricultural communities use climate based crops which is also a
biodiversity.
• Urban communities use the greatest amount of goods and services, which are
all indirectly drawn from natural ecosystems.

6. DIRECT CONSUMPTIVE USE VALUES

7. (DIRECT) CONSUMPTIVE VALUES
• direct utilization of timber, food, fuel wood and fodder by local
communities.
• The biodiversity provides all the daily needs, food, building material,
medicines and a variety of other products.
• Tribals know the qualities and different uses of wood from different species of trees, and
collect a large number of local fruits, roots and plant material that they
use as food, construction material Pulp or medicines.
• Fisher folks are completely dependent on fish and know where and how to catch fish and
other edible aquatic animals and plants.

8. TRADITIONAL USES OF MEDICINE
DRUG SOURCE USAGE
Barbaloin,
aloe emodin
Aloe vera
Antibacterial,
purgative
atropine
Belladona
(Atopa belladunna)
Ralaxant, sedative
codeine
Opium poppy
(Papaver somniferum)
Pain killer
Colchicine
Autumn crocus
(colchicum autumnale)
Anti cancerous
digitoxin
Common foxglove
(Digitalis purpurea)
Cardiac stimulant
ephedrine
Joint fir
(Ephedra sinica)
Asthma,
emphysema,
bronchodilator,
hayfever
L-Dopa
Velvet bean
(Mucuna deeringiana)
Parkinson’s disease
DRUG SOURCE USAGE
Menthol
Mint
(Mentha sp)
Nasal decongestant
morphiene
Opium poppy
(Papaver somniferum)
Analgesic
Quinine
Yellow cinchona
(Cinchona ledgeriana)
Malaria
Reserpine
Indian snakeroot
(Rauwolfia serpentina)
Hypertension
Taxol
Pacific yellow
(Taxus bravifolia)
Anti-cancer
Vinchristine,
vinblastine
Periwinkle
(Catharanthus roseus)
Leukemia

9. INDIRECT CONSUMPTIVE USE VALUES

10. (INDIRECT) CONSUMPTIVE VALUES
CLIMATE, SOILAND WATER.
• Controlling soil water regime and hydrology: soil and water 
absorption by plants  evaporation and transpiration  cloud formation 
precipitation  flow of flow / seepage ( hydrological cycle )
• Efficient organic residue management: micro-organisms and organic
matter  residue nutrient enrichment  reduces soil-air interphase 
reduces pollution by manure recycling.
• Soil fertility management: growing nitrogen fixing plants  adds to
mineral content of soil  humus  biofarming practice  maintains soil
fertility and ecological balance.

11. (INDIRECT) CONSUMPTIVE VALUES
• Regulating global processes,
such as atmosphere and
climate
• Soil and water conservation
• Nutrient cycling
• Pollination and seed dispersal
• Control of agricultural pests
• Genetic library
• Inspiration and information
• Scientific and educational
• Tourism and recreation
• Cultural, spiritual, and aesthetic
• Community Resilience
• Strategic

12. PRODUCTIVE USE VALUES

13. PRODUCTIVE USE VALUES
• This category comprises marketable goods.
• Biotechnological use of bio-rich areas to ‘prospect’ and search for potential
genetic properties in plants or animals that can be used to develop better
varieties of crops .New crop varieties (cultivars) are being developed using the
genetic material found in wild relatives of crop plants through biotechnology.
• Pharmacists use biological diversity as the raw material to identify a plant/animal
product for new drugs.
• For Industrialists , BD is a rich storehouse to develop new products.
• Agricultural scientist use the biodiversity for developing better crops.

14. PRODUCTIVE USE VALUES
• Genetic diversity enables scientists / farmers to select, develop better crops
and domestic animals through careful breeding programs.
• New species of plants and animals are being constantly discovered in the
wild. These wild species are the building blocks for the
betterment of human life and their loss is a great economic loss to
mankind.
• The preservation of biodiversity has now become essential for industrial
growth and economic development ( ‘biological prospecting’)

15. SOCIAL USE VALUES

16. SOCIAL USE VALUES
Traditional societies had valued and preserved their
biodiversity and its resources,
modern man has depleted it up to the extent leading to irrecoverable
loss due to extinction of several species.
‘Ecosystem people’ value biodiversity as a part of their livelihood ,
as well as through cultural and religious sentiments.

17. SOCIAL USE VALUES
• A great variety of crops have been cultivated in traditional
agricultural system which spread widely and marketed throughout and
acted as insurance against the failure of one crop(‘today’s ‘monoculture’).
• In recent years , farmers have begun to receive incentives to grow
cash crops for national/international markets, rather than to supply local
needs which resulted in local food shortages, unemployment,
landlessness, and increased vulnerability to drought and floods.

18. ETHICAL AND MORAL VALUES

19. ETHICAL / MORAL VALUES
• Ethical values of biodiversity are based on the importance of
protecting all life forms .
• Most religious and secular creeds believe that all form of life have the
right to exist on Earth.
• There are several cultural, moral and ethical values, associated with the
sanctity of all forms of life.
• Indian civilizations has, over several generations, preserved nature
through local traditions.

20. ETHICAL / MORAL VALUES
• People have related biodiversity to the very existence of human race through
spiritual and religious beliefs.
• They are
sacred groves,
sacred landscapes and
sacred species.
These sacred groves around ancient sacred sites and temples act as gene banks
for wild plants.

21. Sacred groves are the traditionally conserved
forests dedicated to the local deity.
Ex. Mawsmai at Cherrapunji,
Deodar in Shimla,
Devarabana, Hulidevana kadu etc.

22. Species of cultural values where certain plants and animals
are protected traditionally and continue to be
conserved by man.
Ancient mythology associates sacred species to
GODS so that no one harms them.
Ex. Tulsi, Banyan tree, Cobra, Cow etc.
Sacred species

23. • THESE are the areas of traditionally conserved land with
natural features to their ancestral deities.
• It helps in preservation of natural soil. It helps in forestation,
and such forests provide habitats for variety of wild animals.
• Ex. Sacred Gangetic river between Haridwar and Hrishikesh where
fishing is prohibited.
Biligiri hills,
Baba budangeri in Karnataka
SACRED LANDSCAPES

24. AESTHETIC VALUES

25. AESTHETIC VALUES
• The appreciation of the presence of biodiversity for its inherent value and
beauty, as well as for the contribution it makes to our knowledge-
our aesthetic, imagination and creativity- are some reasons to
preserve it.
• Quite apart from killing wildlife for food, it is important as a tourist
attraction.
• Biodiversity is a beautiful and wonderful aspect of nature.
• Sit in a forest and listen to the birds chirp.
• Watch a spider weave its complex web.
• Observe a fish feeding. Its just magnificent and fascinating.

26. AESTHETIC VALUES
• In India, particularly , our history and culture is replete with plant and
animal image.
• Symbols from wild species such as the lion of Hinduism, the elephant of
Buddhism and the vehicles of several deities are animals, that have been
venerated for thousands of year.
• The sacred Basil or the ‘Tulsi’ has grown in the courtyards of each
household for centuries for their medicinal values.

27. OPTION AND
ECOLOGICAL SERVICES VALUES

28. OPTION VALUES
• Keeping future possibilities open for their use is called the
• option value.
• It is impossible to predict which of our species or traditional varieties of
crops and domestic animals will be greatest use in the future.
• To improve cultivars and domestic livestock, we need to return to wild relatives
of crop plants and animals.
• Thus, the preservation of biodiversity must also include traditionally-used
strains, already in existence in crops and domestic animals.

29. ECOLOGICAL SERVICES VALUES
• Many flowering plants depend on animals for pollination to produce
food.
• 30% of human crops depend on free services of pollinators;
replacement value estimated billions of dollars/year in US alone
• Resilient ecosystems are characterized by:
• Constancy (Lack of fluctuation)
• Inertia (Resistance to perturbation)
• Renewal (Ability to repair damage)
• Not all species are critical to an ecosystems function; many fill
redundant roles; basis for community resilience and integrity
• If too many species or keystone species are lost, eventually it leads to
the failure of ecosystem function
Source: Spector© AMNH-CBC

30. SPIRITUAL AND CULTURAL VALUES

31. SPIRITUAL AND CULTURAL VALUES
• The survival of natural areas and species are important to different
cultures around the world.
• Thousands of cultural groups in the world, each have distinct
traditions and knowledge for relating to natural world.

32. Source: Brumbaugh © AMNH-CBC
http://research.amnh.org/biodiversity/crisis/index.html
RETENTION OF FOOD WEB

33. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND REFERENCES
M.F. LAVERTY AND E.J. STERLING
SOURCE:"COPYRIGHT 2003, BY THE AUTHORS OF THE MATERIAL, WITH LICENSE FOR USE GRANTED TO THE CENTER FOR BIODIVERSITY
AND CONSERVATION OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED."
PART OF THIS MATERIAL IS BASED ON WORK SUPPORTED BY THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION UNDER THE COURSE, CURRICULUM
AND LABORATORY IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM (NSF 0127506), AND THE UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE (GRANT AGREEMENT
NO. 98210-1-G017).
Image courstesy: SOURCE: SPECTOR© AMNH-CBC
SOURCE: BRUMBAUGH © AMNH-CBC
HTTP://RESEARCH.AMNH.ORG/BIODIVERSITY/CRISIS/INDEX.HTML
HTTP://RESEARCH.AMNH.ORG/BIODIVERSITY/NCEP/
ANGELA MARY BINOY, ANNIES MINU SATHIYASEELAN BRIJITA CHAUDHARY , ASHWINI UTTURKAR
WIKIPEDIA

34. THANK YOU
DR. NAGABHUSHAN CHARANTIMATH
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR,
DEPT. OF STUDIES IN ZOOLOGY,
VIJAYANAGARA SRI KRISHNADEVARAYA UNIVERSITY, BALLARI
9880121090, NAGABHUSHANCM@VSKUB.AC.IN