● There are many reasons, some `color{violet}("obvious")` and others not so obvious, but all equally important.

● They can be `color{violet}("grouped")` into three categories:

`star` `color{brown}("Narrowly Utilitarian")`
`star` `color{brown}("Broadly Utilitarian")`
`star` `color{brown}("Ethical")`

● The `color{brown}("narrowly utilitarian")` arguments for `color{violet}("conserving biodiversity ")` are obvious; humans derive countless `color{violet}("direct economic")` benefits from `color{violet}("nature.")`

● `color{violet}("Food (cereals, pulses, fruits)")`, `color{violet}("firewood, fibre, construction material, industrial products")` (tannins, lubricants, dyes, resins, perfumes ) and `color{violet}("products of medicinal importance.")`

● More than `color{violet}(25 %)` of the `color{violet}("drugs currently sold")` in the `color{violet}("market worldwide")` are derived from `color{violet}("plants")` and `color{violet}("25,000 species")` of `color{violet}("plants contribute")` to the traditional medicines used by native peoples around the world.

● Nobody knows how many more medicinally useful `color{violet}("plants")` there are in `color{violet}("tropical rain forests waiting")` to be explored.

● With `color{violet}("increasing resources")` put into `color{violet}("‘bioprospecting’")` (exploring molecular, genetic and species-level diversity for products of economic importance), nations endowed with `color{violet}("rich biodiversity")` can expect to reap enormous
benefits.

● The `color{brown}("broadly utilitarian")` argument says that `color{violet}("biodiversity")` plays a major role in many `color{violet}("ecosystem services")` that nature provides.

● The `color{violet}("fast dwindling")` Amazon forest is estimated to produce, through `color{violet}("photosynthesis,")` `color{violet}(20 %)` of the `color{violet}("total oxygen")` in the `color{violet}("earth’s atmosphere.")`

● One can get some idea by finding out how much your neighborhood hospital spends on a `color{violet}("cylinder of oxygen.")`

● `color{violet}("Pollination")` (without which plants cannot give us fruits or seeds) is another service, `color{violet}("ecosystems")` provide through `color{violet}("pollinators layer")` – bees, bumblebees, birds and bats.

● There are other `color{violet}("intangible benefits")` – that we derive from `color{violet}("nature–the aesthetic pleasures")` of walking through `color{violet}("thick woods, watching spring flowers")` in full bloom or waking up to a bulbul’s song in the morning.

● The `color{brown}("ethical")` argument for `color{violet}("conserving biodiversity")` relates to what we owe to millions of `color{violet}("plant, animal")` and `color{violet}("microbe species")` with whom we share this planet.

● `color{violet}("Philosophically or spiritually,")` we need to realise that every species has an `color{violet}("intrinsic value,")` even if it may not be of current or any economic value to us.

● We have a moral duty to care for their well-being and pass on our `color{violet}("biological legacy")` in good order to future generations.