Study 3: Ecodestruction and the Right to Food: The Cases of Water ...

Starving the Future Study 3
grand scale and in such intricate and little-explored ways that most of them cannot be replaced by
technology.
i. Food-supply:
“Agricultural biodiversity” is a vital part of biodiversity. It is a creation of humankind whose food security
depends on the management of the biological resources that are important for food and agriculture.
Those food crops and livestocks are part of biodiversity, just like their wild relatives. Farmers bred and
maintained a tremendous diversity of crop varieties around the world until this century. Nevertheless out
of the 30000 today known edible plant species, human beings have only utilized around 7000 plant
species for food over the course of history of which no more than 120 are cultivated today on a larger
scale: 90 provide 5 % of human food, 21 provide 20 % of human food, 9 provide 75 % of human food. 14
On-farm diversity is shrinking fast, due to the planting of comparatively fewer varieties of crops that
respond better to water, fertilizers and pesticides. This has lead to the fact, that in today’s world 75% of
the human food supply actually depends on only 9 plant species.
ii. Biodiversity as “food insurance”
Biodiversity is a form of ecosystem health insurance: Ecosystems that include several species fulfilling
the same or similar functions are more resistant to environmental stress and recover faster from
perturbations. This is due to the genetic variety, through which every species ecan respond with
different adaptabilities and tolerances. Ecosystems that have lost either genetic or species diversity are
similar to monocultures and less resistant to the effects of environmental perturbations, such as
droughts, soil salinity, pests and diseases. Regarding the food supply mentioned above, the loss of
genetic or species variety could thus have a great impact on human food security. Problems with any of
the 9 plant species covering 75 % of the human food supply, this could lead to food shortages and
hunger on a large scale. Hence biodiversity is not only an ecosystem health insurance but also an
insurance for our food security and is therefore vitally important for the right to food.
iii. Medicinal resources
Four out of every five of the top 150 prescription drugs used in the U.S. are based on natural
compounds. 74% on plants, 18% on fungi, 5% on bacteria, and 3% on one vertebrate (snake) species.
(Grifo and Rosenthal, as cited in Dobson 1995). A famous example is aspirin - a derivative of salicylic
acid which was first taken from the bark of willow trees. Looking at the global situation, it has been
estimated that 80% of the human population relies on plant-based medicines for their primary health
care, and about 85% of traditional medicine involves the use of plant extracts (Farnsworth et al. 1985).
Yet it is estimated that of the approximately 270000 plant species, only less than half of 1% have been
screened for their beneficial pharmaceutical properties.
Consequentially, in connection with medicinal resources, again biodiversity plays a vital role. Different
populations of the same species may produce different types of defensive chemicals that have potential
use as pharmaceuticals. It is therefore obvious that the loss of species will also result in a severe loss of
medicinal resources.
3. Damage to biodiversity due to human activities:
Ecosystem services are essential for guaranteeing food security, health and well-being for citizens in all
societies. Nevertheless human activities are already impairing the flow of ecosystem services on a large
scale, due to the continued degradation and erosion of the resource on which they are based, which is
biodiversity.
It will take at least decades until depleted marine resources can regenerate. The same is true for forests
– unless the soils have been washed away. It will take at least hundreds of years to rebuild just a few
centimeters of topsoil. 15 A species lost, however, is lost forever.
FIAN International 109
June 2002