A new book written by more than one hundred scientists claims that biodiversity loss will have a significant impact on human health.
A book has been released showing biodiversity loss will have a severe impact on human health. Photo: Orange-eyed tree frog. Credit: rainforest_harley/flickr
The publication "Sustaining Life" claims that new and effective discoveries for painkillers, cancer treatments, ways to regrow limbs as well as research to treat thinning bones, kidney failure and even HIV cures could be lost as species become extinct before scientists have the chance to exploit their health benefits for humans.
Published by Oxford University Press and supported by such organisations as the UN Environment Programme, UNEP; the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity; the UN Development Programme; and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, IUCN, the book's findings were presented prior to the next meeting of the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity set for Bonn, Germany in May.
There delegates from nearly 190 countries will meet to discuss the need to put in place actions which will slow the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010.
"While extinction is alarming in its own right, the book demonstrates that many species can help human lives," said co-author Jeffrey McNeely, chief scientist at IUCN (previously known as the World Conservation Union).
"If we needed more justification for action to conserve species, it offers dozens of dramatic examples of both why and how citizens can act in ways that will conserve, rather than destroy, the species that enrich our lives," he said.
Among its findings, the book recounts the loss of the southern gastric brooding frog (Rheobatrachus silus), which last seen in an Australian rainforest in 1981, was unique in that its young were raised in the females' stomachs. The frog apparently produced a substance which prevented digestion, which may have been useful in treating stomach ulcers in humans.
"These studies could not be continued because both species of Rheobactrachus became extinct," said co-authors Eric Chivian and Aaron Bernstein from Harvard Medical School, US.
"The valuable medical secrets they held are now gone forever."
View blog reactions
There are currently no comments for this article. Be the first to comment! (no registration required)
Advertising
There are currently no comments for this article. Be the first to comment! (no registration required)