Norman Myers - Böcker

As environmentalists and wildlife enthusiasts argue for preservation of wild species, they sometimes overlook a most compelling fact-the survival of wild species directly benefits humans. Like the Earth's most precious minerals, the planetary gene pool is a valuable natural resource that is vulnerable to irreversible harm. Yet, if present trends toward extinction persist, possibly one-third and conceivably one-half the entire spectrum of species may be lost to us within another century. What does this mean? In 1960, a child suffering from leukemia had only one chance in five of remission. Today, thanks to a drug developed from an obscure tropical forest plant, the rosy periwinkle, the odds are reversed and that child has an 80 percent chance. In fact, each time we take a doctor's prescription to a pharmacy, there is a one-in-two chance that the medication we collect originated in the unique properties of a wild plant or animal. Wild species of plants also hold the promise of revolutionizing agriculture around the world, and their uses as foods, sources of new chemicals for pest control, and even new kinds of contraceptives are being developed. Wild animals likewise have made great-and often little known-contributions to mankind. Studies of a woodpecker's vertebrae have led to better design for antiwhiplash equipment in automobiles, and engineering information derived from studies of hummingbirds is contributing to improved helicopters.

This book tells how our welfare is ever more intimately tied up with the welfare of the millions of species that share the One Earth home with us. It presents a synoptic review of the contributions that wild species make, and can make, to our daily lives.

Tropical forests form the most diverse and complex ecosystem on earth—a virtual powerhouse of evolution—containing 40 percent of all living species. They provide us with food, medicines, germplasm stocks to replenish our crops, and new types of energy sources. It is clear we cannot afford to lose our tropical forests. But we are losing them—to the overexploitation of multinational corporations, to the severe economic needs of the Third World, and to the consumerist appetites of the developed nations. Where is this happening and why? The answers to these critical questions are set forth eloquently by Norman Myers, one of the world’s leading experts on the environment and the author of The Long African Day, The Sinking Ark, and A Wealth of Species. Dr. Myers delineates the scope of the problem and offers a blueprint for its solution.

These and other questions are discussed by environmentalist Norman Myers, and Julian Simon, an economist and outspoken sceptic on environmentalism. This book is a transcript of their provocative exchange in a debate held at Columbia University in October 1992. The authors also provide position statements and replies that let readers judge for themselves whose arguments are more persuasive.