Research Essay: How Does Conservation of Biodiversity Promote Economic Development in Australia?

Research Essay: How Does Conservation of Biodiversity Promote Economic Development in Australia?

Biodiversity is a hot topic that emanates from the current state of affairs of climate change. For too long, the literature on the interrelationship between economic statuses of nations and environmental conservation has been very scanty. However, in the late 20^th century, researchers began to make a connection between poverty levels and the state of biodiversity conservation in respective geographic locations. The nexus between poverty and biodiversity degradation has been one of the many focuses of the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goal.  Australia is one amongst the developed nations whose state of biodiversity is worth studying, given the current efforts put by the government to promote the indigenous practices and biome. At all levels of governance, the country has enacted tacit legislations to protect the integrity of diversity. In as much as the overall research points that Australia’s biodiversity has reported a steady decline, the current legislations stand out as bold steps that can promote economic benefits associated with protecting biodiversity. From the year 2011, Australia has been strengthening the implementation of Indigenous Protected Areas as an effort to expand the National Reserve Systems. Given this, the country prides itself on having over 36 percent of her marine and 17 percent of her terrestrial land as government-protected areas (Cresswell and Murphy 97). This translates to at least 1.8 million hectares in Queensland. The government and the local people are in concerted efforts to minimize the extinction of some vital spices as well as the elimination of invasive species in biodiversity. According to the report tabled by the Australian Government Department of the Environment and Energy: Canberra, these efforts are already yielding fruits. This research posits that Australia can reap immense economic benefits from their current efforts of biodiversity conservation.

One of the significant challenges that many economies face today is balancing between maintaining a strong economy and conserving the environment. According to Katherine et al. (1429), “markets for biodiversity offsets are one tool which could secure biodiversity protection at lower costs to society whilst allowing some economic development to still take place.” The meaning of this statement is that biodiversity can make proceeds that are significant enough to cater for the conservation as well as provide a surplus for economic growth. According to Cresswell and Murphy (141), Australia leads in translocation of species that appear threatened, a fact that is essential for the future benefits of biodiversity. Translocation is the concept used to define the deliberate efforts made by the authorities to move a threatened species from the region where it is threatened to a region where it is at maximum safety. Australia is the country that spearheaded the idea of translocation, and many countries across the globe are increasingly emulating this method. The economic benefit that accrues from such efforts is that tourists get to frequently visit the translocation sites to view the almost extinct species. Much of the benefits that accrue from biodiversity conservation come from tourism, and for countries which can exhibit the rarest species, the economic benefit compounds.

Moreover, Australia has an ecosystem that is distinct and attractive to the whole globe. According to Cresswell and Murphy (3), “Around 150,000 species have been formally described in Australia, but this is only about 25 percent of the total number present.” This means that there is still room for discovery and fun altogether. It is apparent, therefore, that the indigenous communities in which these species pay homage can reap greatly from the efforts geared towards discovering these species. Like is the normal case in many countries, species- led interventions have serious economic and social outcomes. According to Brendan et al. (2475), “Management interventions by their nature can provide cultural services, as in the maintenance of traditional cultural activities such as reed cutting and reedbed management, along with the use of cut reed for thatching or fuel purposes.” The significance of these is that they promote cultural activities and maintain the original landscape of eth rural areas. Low- input grazing has the economic significance of providing economic benefits of local grazers. Australian conservation is instrumental in delivering low input grazing areas for the indigenous communities, meaning that the economic benefits of those regions improve tremendously. Moreover, it is easy to practice productive agriculture in areas of conservation because of the natural fertilities of such places. In terms of the same agriculture, protected floodplain grasslands act as nutrient sediments that are important for soil fertility. The effect is that both agriculture and livestock production.

BioBanking is the science of storing necessary biological samples for the purposes of later research. Existing data points out that Australia is one of the leading nations in BioBanking. In New South Wales Australia, strict regulations are governing BioBanking for the purpose of economic benefits. It is fascinating that in many parts of Australia where BioBanking is a practice, the land value depends on the attributes that the site has with respect to its richness in biodiversity. Hence, the evaluation of any land policy depends on whether it is good for biodiversity or not (Katherine et al. 1431). Where policies are already strong, the cost of protecting biodiversity is owner than the benefits accrued.

Australian communities are unique communities, in that, they communally live with biodiversity. However, current researches have not been able to measure the real benefits of this symbiotic relationship accurately. Many industries in Australia heavily rely on biodiversity, yet the researchers have never been able to bring this to light comprehensively. For instance, the diverse species of insects been beneficial for long in promoting agriculture because insects pollute the environment and promote cross-pollination. In the report by Cresswell and Murphy (4), “there are more than 1500 species of Australian native bee, and very few of these are well known to ecologists or agricultural scientists.” In as much as there is no roper indulgence in the species, one economic activity of tourism steadies as the tourists try to relate with the diverse species. The most substantial aspect of tourism that is strongest is that many of the visitors, both local and foreigners, feel therapeutic when they relate with the natural assets. Australia prides itself of the diverse, iconic wild places. Interestingly, Australia witnesses upsurge in tourism even at the time that the rest of the world fumbles with failing tourism destinations. Unfortunately, there are some natural events, for example, the massive coral bleaching that took place In Ningaloo Reef, which tends to impede the revenues from tourism.

Overall, Australia’s environment has been of benefit to the country. Due to diverse specie species of plants and animals in Australia, it is easy for the government to promote economic activities that directly relate to biodiversity because the cost is relatively cheaper. Specifically, Australia’s northern savanna one of the most natural places on earth. The only threat is the expanding modern agriculture, which does not take into account species conservation. According to Alejandra et al. (94), “only one third of natural vegetation remains in south-eastern Australia, while the tropical savannas of northern Australia currently occupy 99% of their original extent.” However, the land is resilient and has remained intact amid the encroachment by grazers. What follows, then, is that the responsible governments must put strategic plans to ensure that the northern Australia maximum benefits from the biodiversity, which has been the northern asset for decades. Research by Alejandra et al. concluded that strategic planning could be quite beneficial to the northern economy because it will specifically elaborate on how the local populations relate to nature. One suggested mechanism suggested by this research is the modernization of agriculture through irrigation to reduce the overexploitation of the natural flora and fauna, which act as the most reliable tourist attractions.

The north of Australia stands out because it presents a vast natural habitat that is different from the government-protected areas. Currently, documented evidence points that government-protected areas have over 654 features of biodiversity. However, there is still a room for the expansion of the reserves so as to carry even bigger proportions of biodiversity. The economic benefit of this factor is that it expands the area within which tourism can take place. According to Stanford.Edu (web), tourism is the industry that grows at the fastest pace in Australia. The income generated from tourism derives from such proceeds as recreational and educational facilities provided by Mother Nature. Other sources of tourism income are direct use of natural areas for future benefits, the knowledge gained by listening to other people who visits the sites, and bequest values from the natural assists.

In conclusion, the whole world recognizes Australia and the modern home of diverse fauna and flora. The government makes deliberate steps to protect the natural environments through strict legislation that aim to boost the implementation of Indigenous Protected Areas. Research indicates that Australia can immensely benefit from biodiversity conservation because the gains from this conservation are more significant than the costs of conservation.  Among the industries that can directly benefit from biodiversity conservation are agriculture, tourism, education, and commerce. Agriculture directly benefits from the variety of animal and insects like bees which promote cross-pollination. Tourism can benefit through increased visits by people seeking hedonistic diversions as well as those who wish to pursue educational research of nature. Northern Australia offers the best place for the visage of the gift of Mother Nature. The northern geography is characterized by peculiar land formations as well as a variety of plants and animals. Tourism stands out as one of the steadiest industries in Australia, remaining steadfast even at the time that the world struggles to manage the same enterprise.

Works Cited

“Australia: Biodiversity Conservation And Ecotourism”. Web.Stanford.Edu, 2020, web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/trade_environment/photo/haustralia.html. Accessed 28 Mar 2020.

Cheng, Xin, et al. “Topic modelling of ecology, environment and poverty nexus: An integrated framework.” Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 267 (2018): 1-14.

Cresswell, I. D., and H. T. Murphy. “Australia state of the environment 2016: Biodiversity, independent report to the Australian Government Minister for the Environment and Energy.” Australian Government Department of the Environment and Energy: Canberra, ACT (2017).

Fisher, Brendan, et al. “Impacts of species-led conservation on ecosystem services of wetlands: understanding co-benefits and trade-offs.” Biodiversity and Conservation 20.11 (2011): 2461-2481

Morán‐Ordóñez, Alejandra, et al. “Analysis of trade‐offs between biodiversity, carbon farming and agricultural development in Northern Australia reveals the benefits of strategic planning.” Conservation Letters 10.1 (2017): 94-104.

Needham, Katherine, et al. “Designing markets for biodiversity offsets: Lessons from tradable pollution permits.” Journal of Applied Ecology 56.6 (2019): 1429-1435.