Saving the world’s endangered species like snow leopards and tens of thousands of others, will cost $US80 billion a year, estimates a coalition of international conservationists and academics. Naturally people are asking can we afford it?
But here’s the punch line according to a story in the UK Guardian. This amount is half that spent on bankers’ bonuses last year!!
Dr Jane Smart, global director of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s biodiversity conservation group (the organisation responsible for designating the snow leopard as endangered), answers this question on whether we can afford to save endangered species.
Surely the financial costs of saving nature, our wildlife and ecosystems are tiny in comparison to the benefits of living in a healthy environment with good quality water, food and air. A compromised environment always means more medical costs, lower standards of living and lower life expectancy. Not to mention that having more forests and trees means we don’t need to waste the billions we are spending to deal with the release of greenhouse gases.
{ 0 comments… add one }