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The chapter explains the concept, measurement and utility of bio-diversity as a resource and its intricate relationship with forest. It discusses the issues of economics of choice and economic valuation of biodiversity at conceptual level. It describes also the empirical situation in respect of biodiversity outlining both the global and the Indian scenario. In this context it explains the extent, causes and impact of the biodiversity loss in India due to the limit of eco-capacity. It further discusses the biodiversity conservation policy of India including India’s heritage of biodiversity conservation and traditional knowledge system associated with the bio-diversity resource of forest. Finally, the chapter ends with a discussion on how the anthropogenic stress on ecosystem is captured by the loss of bio-diversity which is represented by indicators like living planet index among other measures.

By looking at nature through a social science lens, we can begin to see the natural world as an asset critical to our well-being and from that learn to appreciate its value. This appreciation can inspire more of us to protect nature as we pursue our own self-interests. Pairing anthropology with economics encourages people to see the connection between sound environmental stewardship and the flow of benefits we receive from that stewardship, ultimately challenging cultural attitudes towards biodiversity, ecotourism, and our natural heritage. To make these connections, this book relies on five North American animals to demonstrate how, by assessing their role as keystone species and assigning nature a value, people can change their own relationships with our natural world.

By failing to assign nature value in our current Anthropocene, the opportunity costs of diminishing biodiversity are not recognized in the marketplace, leading to significant negative consequences for both nature and humanity. Polluting water, destroying habitats, or exterminating species should each lessen nature’s value, but if nature has never been assigned a value, that loss is not recognized and development becomes the default. The words “wild capital” remind us that nature should be viewed as an asset like any other, and that in doing so we are better equipped to appreciate its long-term worth. Since the ecosystem services model (ES) ties together the ecological, social, and economic needs of human well-being, it is well situated to assign nature value and from that make a case for nature as natural capital. To assist in policy decisions, ES has offered a path based on the language of economics, making it appealing to economists, while to conservationists, it has turned an argument about the negative effects of development on wildlife into a more fruitful dialogue about how beneficial conservation is for human well-being. ES is also compatible with efforts at sustainability and the goals of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and 2005 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.

Despite major environmental degradation, Newark Bay--a corner of New York Harbor—is brimming with life. The Harbor's high biodiversity has been noted since the earliest European explorers. This diversity includes odd tropical fishes that arrive via the Gulf Stream and local residents of high historical or contemporary importance for food and sport such as oysters, sturgeon, eels, and striped bass. There also has been a strong recovery of wading birds such as herons, egrets, and ibis.

This chapter focuses on the risks posed by genetically modified crops. It argues that many of the risks which are likely to materialize fall comfortably within traditional heads of damage such as personal injury or damage to property. There is also, however, a risk of environmental damage per se, which legal systems may find more problematic. In particular, the notion of damage to ‘biological diversity’ requires careful consideration, especially in light of the definition in the Biodiversity Convention. In the same context, while compensable damage should include the costs of preventive measures and reasonable measures of reinstatement, it should not be so limited, since it may well no longer be feasible to recall the GMO in question.

This chapter presents the legal frame for environmental and biodiversity protection in Costa Rica. It discusses some of the most important environmental laws produced by Costa Rica's Legislative Assembly: the Organic Environmental Law, Forestry Law, Biodiversity Law, Wild Life Protection Law, and Water Law.

Chapter 3 begins by exploring the making of Hong Kong’s present cultural landscape and then works back through its earlier forms, firstly into the age of rice farming where the long-term sustainable management of that particular socio-economic lifeway created highly distinctive cultural landscapes stretching back from the Qing dynasty to as early as the Northern Song in some areas. Then from the Tang dynasty moving backwards, we enter an era where, on the face of it, human impacts beyond the intensively industrialised backbeach areas seem to have been relatively slight. That said, the coastal focus seemingly exhibited by early historical populations was even more intensively expressed in prehistory when, once sea-levels had stabilised at more or less their present position, the resource-rich landscape of the New Territories and Pearl River estuary coastline and offshore archipelagos then took shape.

‘The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity’ (TEEB) is a global initiative that seeks to help decision-makers recognize the benefits of nature, demonstrate their values in economic terms and capture those values in decision-making. Yet valuation of nature’s services in economic terms is not a universally accepted approach, leading to criticism of TEEB. As TEEB shifts focus towards implementation, this chapter presents a timely opportunity for TEEB to respond to these concerns as they relate to key findings and recommendations. It is argued that economics is broader than markets, and valuation is not an end in itself; it should be treated as a means to better communicate and take account of nature’s importance, with particular respect to human well-being. While neither necessary nor sufficient to stop all ecosystem degradation and biodiversity loss, valuation can help us rethink our relationship with nature, alerting us to the true consequences of our actions.

This chapter approaches climate change through the quotidian response of herders in India to an invasive species, Lantana camara, whose proliferation some believe is linked to changing precipitation patterns. Puri uses this as a window into understanding human decision-making in the face of change. The chapter illustrates the value of a focus on everyday activities as a methodology for investigating adaptation to climate change impacts.

This chapter analyses the changing world environment due to globalization. It discusses the impact of globalization on the notion of the Westphalian state. It argues that both terrorism and global capital are inherently biased against the Westphalian order, although one is opposed to the other. It also assesses the role of epistemic communities in promoting local identities, as well as the emergence of global environmental problems of climate change, biodiversity, and desertification. While climate change has implications for a global public good that transcends nation-state boundaries, the Conventions of Biodiversity and Hazardous Wastes Movements deal with global public goods that are confined within the boundaries of the nation-state. This chapter argues that plurality and diversity are key to world order and that local communities have a role to play by generating local responses to globalization and highlighting their identities.

Natural capital – the complex of objects and systems that constitutes the natural environment or the biosphere - plays a fundamental and irreplaceable role in human life, as stories as diverse as the evolution of Earth and its neighboring planets, or of Biosphere 2, clearly illustrate. In addition to being essential to humanity’s existence, it provides on a daily basis services of great but more quotidian importance, such as pollination, insurance against diseases, and drinking water. Yet many of these services go unnoticed and taken for granted, which is one reason why humanity permits the rampant destruction of natural capital, an asset class of great value.

Can we place an economic value on natural capital, and if so, is this a useful exercise? We can value many aspects of natural capital, though this raises complex technical issues and also deep philosophical questions. In some cases natural capital is bought and sold on markets, so we can look to these for prices: in other cases we have to put in some detective work to track down a measure of value. The values that we find are large, consistent with the idea that natural capital is of great importance.

Delgado and Rodríguez-Giralt report on how traditional local seeds became a legal entity under the name of ‘Creole’, and had to co-exist with commercial seeds. Creole seeds, which have been developed, adapted, or produced by farmers and landless and indigenous peoples in situ, are by definition not standardized. Because of their ‘ecology’, they remain always adapting and changing as open objects. This chapter details a number of attempts at including Creole seeds within national legal, scientific and bureaucratic systems. It reports on how new forms of ownership and dependencies emerged in the conflictive relations between the State and the Brazilian rural movements. Drawing on Moreira’s discussion of interferences, the authors describe how Creole seeds constantly disrupt what is considered a legally valid entity in the Brazilian context and propose the notion of transient standardizations to conceptualize the disruptive nature of those relations.

This history of African bioprospecting strengthens understandings of priority, locality, appropriation and benefits. The book indicates herbal preparations and pharmaceuticals have coexisted, as not all efforts to supplant plants with pills since the 1880s were successful. Depending on how widely the plants and related information spread across the world, controversies emerged when multiple parties told overlapping narratives of ownership. Periwinkle, pennywort, and grains of paradise indicate relatively widely distributed plants with many competing popular medicinal recipes within open networks of exchange. This is why it was difficult for activists to get Eli Lilly to redistribute benefits from periwinkle drugs, or even La Roche and Ratsimanaga to pass on profits with respect to pennywort. Strophanthus and Cryptolepis were less widely known, but they did not lead to a discourse of benefit-sharing along ethnic lines in Ghana. After apartheid, Hoodia shows South Africans hoped to close access to information on plants.