Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 2.9
World imports of palm oil. (USDA data). (Unit: 1000 tons) (Source: USDA“World Mar-
kets and Trade”August-July)
Fig. 2.10
Threatened species of the world. (IUCN 2007 data from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
File:IUCN_Red_List_2007.svg.
Accessed 26 June 2014)
indigenous people. The driving forces here are not just in the producing countries—
as can be seen from Fig.
2.9
, the real driving force is the demand in the importing
countries such as China, EU, Pakistan, Egypt, and so on.
Biodiversity and the associated ecosystem services are becoming important is-
sues for global sustainability. For a sustainable world, maintaining biodiversity is
recognised as very important. In fact, we humans do not even know how many
creatures inhabit the earth. Currently, it is said that about 1.4-1.8 million species
are recognized scientifically, but some scholars say the numbers of species, includ-
ing yet unknown organisms, may be much greater. Scientists are now warning that
0.1-0.01 % are becoming extinct every year. The biggest contribution to the ac-
celerating modern rates of extinction (loss of biological diversity) is human activ-
ity- especially loss of habitat through habitat destruction or land use change. The
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA
2005
) said that the rate of extinction
of species is 1000-10,000 times that which would occur in the absence of human
involvement, and numbers of threatened species globally are shown in Fig.
2.10
.
Natural ecosystems exist in complex and subtle balances, which if destroyed may