Wild Solutions: How Biodiversity is Money in the Bank

  • Andrew Beattie &
  • Paul R. Ehrlich
Yale University Press: 2001. 272 pp. $25.95
Credit: DAVID NEWTON

Every textbook on conservation contains a section where the authors attempt to justify why policy-makers should make the conservation of biodiversity a priority. Although people tend to become conservationists for reasons more to do with the heart than the head, those wishing to make a strong case for conservation tend to downplay arguments based on ethics, aesthetics or spiritual needs, and concentrate on the utilitarian reasons for conservation. It is argued that only if biodiversity is seen to be paying its way, preferably in the short term, will funding for its conservation be forthcoming.

Wild Solutions argues for the conservation of natural resources from a firmly utilitarian perspective. Taking examples from a wide range of taxonomic groups, Andrew Beattie and Paul Ehrlich demonstrate how often-overlooked species are fundamental to our continuing viability. There are many fascinating examples of useful species, such as the glue-squirting velvet worm and the antibiotic-producing Australian bull ant. The authors cover a range of topics, including decomposition, medicines, problems in construction and motion, water and nutrient cycles, and bioindicators.

Using the concept of the 'natural internet', they describe how the natural world is composed of connections, unknown to most people, which are allowing us to dispose of our waste, clean our air and water supplies and pollinate our crop plants. Along the way, the authors also provide powerful ammunition for those who argue that taxonomic studies are crucial to our future well-being. They show how little is known about the planet's biodiversity, and give examples of obscure creatures, stumbled upon by chance, which were subsequently found to be useful to humanity.

The book is almost unrelentingly positive, and an easy read, generating a momentum of energy and excitement about the potential of the natural world to solve many of the problems that face us. By finding where a problem that we face occurs in the natural world, they argue, we are likely to find solutions, either as blueprints for technology or in the form of inspiration. For example, termite air-conditioning has been used as the inspiration for naturally cooled office blocks.

Generally, though, the examples given are discussed briefly, and in little depth — this is an inspirational book for the general reader rather than the scientist. But the chapter on biological control does touch on the complexities involved in exploiting 'wild solutions' to our problems. It explains how introducing new species to solve one problem can create another — the cane toad, water hyacinth and Salvinia are among the examples given.

Reading the book from a UK perspective, however, I was concerned at the absence of any exploration of the issues surrounding the genetic modification of organisms. These are complex issues, hard to discuss in a book of this type. Nevertheless, the target audience in the United Kingdom must be convinced of the benefits of gene technology before it will accept the authors' premise that a combination of sophisticated biotechnology and naturally produced chemicals is a good way to proceed.

The rise of ecological economics as a discipline has made many conservationists believe that, in order to put their case across, they must value biodiversity monetarily. This confuses utilitarian value with monetary value. Beattie and Ehrlich do not attempt this, which I find enormously refreshing. In fact, a strong implicit message in the book is how complex and poorly understood are the mechanisms behind ecological processes, and how meaningless it would be to attempt a full monetary valuation of them.

Some impressive examples of the monetary value of natural services are cited, however. One is the Catskill Mountains, the source of New York city's water supply. The increasing load of pesticides, fertilizers and sewage had threatened to overwhelm the natural water-purification services provided by the Catskills. The costs of constructing a water treatment plant were estimated at $6–8 billion, with annual operating costs of $300 million. By comparison, reducing the pressures on the ecosystem, allowing it once more to provide high-quality water, was estimated to cost $1.5 billion. And this was the course of action chosen.

But as the authors say, “ . . . our most important capital is natural capital: biodiversity . . . this is the capital of the real world. The currencies based on financial capital derive from the life-support systems and products generated by biodiversity. We know full well that humanity has chosen to operate in a world of financial capital. The way to proceed, therefore, is first to recognize the true worth of the two kinds of capital and then to organize the human economy to preserve both. The value of financial capital is accepted by most people; the value of natural capital is only starting to be recognized.”

This book has a limited remit: to demonstrate to the lay reader that the natural world is already supporting our species in ways unknown to many of us, and that many other useful products and services await discovery if we look for them in the right way. The destruction of biodiversity is damaging the life-support systems on which we depend, and cutting off our options for the future. By using a huge range of examples, Beattie and Ehrlich get the point across very effectively.