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A healthy environment is the basis for a healthy economy. Without the products and services that diverse, natural systems provide, we would not be able to survive, let alone prosper.
Biodiversity has direct economic benefits. Studies have estimated that biodiversity provides between $3-$33 trillion dollars to the global economy, or upwards of 11% of world GDP through avenues such as food production, hunting, tourism, shipping, and more. The annual economic and environmental benefits of biodiversity in the United States total approximately $300 billion. Biodiversity benefits local economies too. In 1995 alone, visitors to national wildlife refuges contributed $401 million to local businesses in communities surrounding those refuges.
The loss of biodiversity and related ecosystem services generates huge costs for communities. Polluted air and water increase illness and reduce productivity--both in people and in ecosystems and their inhabitants. A loss of bees, insects, birds, and ants directly results in a reduction in food availability, for all plants require pollination, including corn, soybeans, apples, tomatoes, and so on. Degraded wetlands and forests lose their capacity to filter and store water, forcing municipalities to build expensive water treatment plants instead.
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