Assigning value to Biological Diversity, how long before the task is complete?

Nature Body Warns of Wildlife Extinction Threat
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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=570&ncid=753&e=1&u=/nm/20031118/sc_nm/environment_redlist_dc

By Robert Evans 

GENEVA (Reuters) - Colombian spider monkeys, Galapagos snails, unique
South African rabbits and one of the world's largest freshwater fish
are in stark danger of extinction, a nature body warned on Tuesday.
   
Also under threat of disappearing in the near future, according to the
Swiss-based World Conservation Union (IUCN), are the 21 species of
albatross, dozens of types of shark and rayfish and Mediterranean
dolphins.

All are among a total of 12,259 varieties of animal, plant and water
life described as critically-endangered in this year's version of the
IUCN's Red List -- the key reference for biologists tracking the state
of the planet's health.

And, according to the inter-governmental organization which works with
civil society groups and scientists around the globe, it is largely
the fault of humans.

"Places such as the Galapagos, Hawaii and the Seychelles are famed for
their beauty, their diversity of plants, animals and ecosystems," said
IUCN Director General Achim Steiner, introducing the 2003 list.

"But the Red List tells us that human activities are leading to a
swathe of extinctions that could make these islands ecologically and
aesthetically barren."

The IUCN said studies show that Indonesia, Brazil, China and Peru have
the highest number of endangered birds and mammals while plants are
most under threat in Ecuador, Malaysia and Sri Lanka as well as in
Indonesia and Brazil.

All are countries where industrialisation, forest clearance and
tourism have developed rapidly in recent decades.

The Red List includes extinctions that have been recorded since the
start of the 16th century -- by this year totaling 762.

But biologists say that there are almost certainly hundreds, if not
thousands, more as so many species -- especially of the smallest
animals, insects and plants -- go unrecorded.

MAN TO BLAME 


Island populations of native plants and animals disappear with the
arrival of stronger species, often brought by boat or plane or to
provide food for settlers -- like goats that have devastated parts of
Charles Darwin's "workshop of evolution" -- Ecuador's Galapagos.

There was a similar picture on the islands of Hawaii where there has
been rapid housing development, hotel construction and intensive
farming. "The future for Hawaiian flora looks grim," the IUCN said.

The spider monkey in Colombia and Venezuela, and its black howler
cousin in Mexico, have been driven into smaller and smaller areas by
urban growth, agriculture and cattle ranching.

And the population of the Giant Catfish of Southeast Asia's Mekong
River, which grows up to 10 feet long and can weigh 660 pounds, has
dropped by 80 percent since 1990 from over-fishing and blocking of its
migratory routes by dams.

But the IUCN said the downward spiral could be stopped -- exemplified
by governments and peoples who had made conscious efforts to save
species like the Arabian oryx and the white rhino. "By working
together, we can help conserve what remains of the earth's
biodiversity," said Red List compiler Craig Hilton-Taylor.
________________________
   Decisions on protecting species, communities, and genetic variation
often come down to arguments over money:How much will it cost? And how
much is it worth? The economic value of something is generally
accepted as the amount of money people are willing to pay for it. This
is only one possible way of assigning value to things, even biological
diversity.
   Natural resources such as clean air, clean water, soil quality,
rare species, and even scenic beauty are considered to be common
property resources owned by society at large.  These resources usually
are not assigned a monetary value.  People, industries, and
governments using and damaging these resources without paying more
than a minimal cost, sometimes paying  nothing at all, create a market
failure situation described as the tragedy of the commons