SUBJECT: Wrong question
AUTHOR: Jurgen Tack
DATE: 4th April 2003

KEYWORDS: Biodiversity, dependency, risks, benefits.

SUMMARY: It would be wrong to try to understand the risks associated with our dependency on biodiversity. The risk of being dependent on biodiversity is simple: if biodiversity disappears, we disappear. But is there an alternative?


How best to synthesize our knowledge to understand the risks associated with our dependency on biodiversity? When I first read this question I tried to analyse the question and came to the conclusion that there is a more important question.

Biodiversity is defined as the variation in life forms and expresses itself through genetic, population, species, communities, ecosystems and landscape diversity.

Biodiversity is very important because of the environmental services, which derive from it and because of its multiple uses: biological diversity provide our food and natural fibers. The water we drink and the air we breathe are linked to natural cycles with high dependency on biodiversity, the productive capacity of the soil depends on its biological diversity and many other environmental facilities on which our survival depends. From a biological perspective, diversity is vital because it allows the human population and other species the possibility of adapting to environmental changes. Biodiversity is also the world’s foremost biological asset and presents critical options for its sustainable development.

We do not have a full understanding of the processes involved in all those aspects of biodiversity! One of the major problems is our limited ability to integrate our research on biodiversity into one global picture in such a way we still understand what is happening.

This is a rather egocentric view on biodiversity. Human beings are not the only species that depend on biodiversity. Besides us an enormous amount of organisms depend on that same biodiversity. Who are we to decide what kind of biodiversity we want to protect?

Being dependent always implies a risk. Can we understand the risks of our dependency on biodiversity while we still do not understand biodiversity? If we would understand those risks, our human nature would start seeking to minimise those risks. This would implicate trying to be less dependent on biodiversity. Look around you and try to find one item that could be made without the involvement of biodiversity. You will not find one. Our products are made with biodiversity, and more importantly by a piece of biodiversity: the human being.

Synthesizing our knowledge to understand the risks associated with our dependency on biodiversity can be summarized in two words: understanding ourselves.

We do not have to understand the risks associated with our dependency on bioodiversity, we just have to admit we are dependent on biodiversity.

The more important question is: How best to synthesize our knowledge to understand the benefits associated with our dependency on biodiversity. But maybe the answer is the same.

A contribution by:

Jurgen Tack
Belgian Biodiversity Platform
c/o Instituut voor Natuurbehoud
Kliniekstraat 25