Dr. Christopher N. Herndon, Published by Mongabay. Dr Herndon stresses the importance of biodiversity in terms of medicine in this well paced interview.
The ecosystems such as rainforests and coral reefs that have given us some of the world’s most important drugs are also among the most endangered. Ocean acidification and warming temperatures connected to climate change may spell doom for coral reefs. Rainforests continue to vanish at an estimated rate of 32,300 hectares every day. Tropical rainforests forests are found only 6% of the earth's land surface but they contain over half of its terrestrial biodiversity.
Dr Herndon says it's truly difficult to know how many species have been tested for medicinal properties, or for that matter how many have already been lost forever. Less than one percent of all species has been fully examined for medical potential. Most of nature's medicine is stored among plants, fungi, and invertebrates.
There is an urgent need to protect our biodiversity. Read the full interview here
No comments:
Post a Comment