IF YOU were ever in any doubt that biodiversity matters, take a look at the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), a mammoth $24 million multi-agency report published this week. It is a hard-nosed effort that hardly mentions the notion that biodiversity is good for its own sake. It focuses instead on the importance of ecosystems to people: how they feed and water us, clothe us and help us stay warm and dry. And though it contains few surprises – it is hardly hot news that we are destroying our ecosystems at an ever increasing rate – its message is explosive.
The research underpinning…
