One risk that is usually associated with population growth is biodiversity risk. Biodiversity risk can be generally described as business risks linked to biodiversity.
This includes threats that occur as a consequence of direct reliance on biodiversity, in addition to funding, regulatory, reputational and supply chain threats that occur due to business associations with biodiversity. A study by Kevin and John (2004) reveals that loss of biodiversity leads to: coastal flooding, desertification and food insecurity. Let’s look at each of these separately.
Costal Flooding
The elimination of chief coastal ecosystems usually augments the brutality of coastal flooding. Coastal aspects such as vegetated coastal dunes and coral reefs form efficient buffers against natural calamities, tornados, and coastal grinding.
Besides their fundamental role in coastal fortification, these coastal aspects are vital for various marine food chains, including vital nursery regions and homes for commercially costly fish and shellfish organisms. In prospect, with the pervasiveness of greater populations in coastal regions, the economic and human costs of destruction to coastal environment s are expected to rise.
Desertification
Ecosystem deprivation, driven mainly by population increase, industrialization and growth of agriculture has been a chief driver of desertification, ensuing in the widespread thrashing of once prolific land. Growing water shortage, itself partly a consequence of deforestation or elimination of vegetation, is compounding the issue in several areas.
Food Security
The productivity of agricultural systems is greatly dependant on geologically assorted soils and other chief ecosystem services like climatic constancy, water regulation and pollination. A study by Garcia-Torres (2001) reveals that by 2050, these agricultural schemes will be expected to feed an envisaged population of 9 billion. This will lay vast pressure on limited land resources and will relentlessly test the capacity of ecosystems to produce the services that supports agriculture.
Impacts of Biodiversity Risk on Businesses
Loss of biodiversity interrupts businesses in several ways. Some of these ways include: reduced productivity; scarcity and increased costs of resources; restricted access to land and other resources; litigation; reduced quotas; pricing and compensation regimes; reputation risk; financing risk; and supply chain link.
Main industries for example, forestry, farming, fishing and extractives are largely impacted, although no quarter escapes unharmed by some type of biodiversity risk (World Economic Forum, 2010).
A Case Study of Biodiversity Loss and Agricultural Supply Chains
Agricultural yields depends on biodiversity and ecosystem services such as water preserving aspects of the landscape, local and international climatic steadiness and genetic inconsistency of crops. Nevertheless, modern agriculture also necessitates vastly modified ecosystem conditions. Associations amid biodiversity, ecosystems and agricultural activities are multifaceted and dependent on instabilities.
Costs incurred as an effect of these instabilities influence the whole value chain, including producers, processing companies and retailers. Producers are influenced by condensed crop returns; processing companies are influenced by supply disruptions and increased input costs; and retailers are influenced in that they are increasingly required to invest in evaluating supplier and merchandise associated biodiversity risks.
Ways of Preparing for the Risk
Public societies, among other organizations, are providing augmented subsidy for biodiversity preservation in cultivated landscapes, acknowledging the need to work outside confined regions.
Farmers are practicing agricultural practices that offer chances for farmers and agri-businesses to enlarge yields more sustainably. Several initiatives are being subsidized by the food and agriculture businesses to encourage sustainable cultivation.
Tools for Evaluating Biodiversity Risks
Biodiversity risk can be measured by use of various tools including: Ecosystem Services Review (ESR), Natural Value Initiative (NVI) and Integrated Biodiversity Assessment Tool (IBAT). First, ESR contains a series of queries that helps managers build strategies to control risks and openings arising from an organization’s reliance on ecosystems.
Second, NVI contains the Ecosystem Services Benchmark (ESB), a technique for evaluating biodiversity, associated risks and openings in the beverage, food and tobacco quarters. Lastly, IBAT is a testing tool which portrays data from the World Database of Protected Areas (WDPA) and extra sources, aimed at aiding organizations to incorporate biodiversity risks in their managerial and planning procedures.
Managing Biodiversity Risk
There exist practical measures which businesses can use in managing their exposure to biodiversity risk. Among them are evaluating possible risk for the business and communicating your initiatives, performance and success to stakeholders (Leveque and Mounolou, 2003).
Evaluating Possible Biodiversity Risks for your Business
With the aid of exterior organizations and suitable tools, spot your business’s direct effects and dependencies on biodiversity, together with possible material threats. Evaluate your contact with other biodiversity associated risks including: regulatory, physical, company brand and supply chain.
Communicating Initiatives, Performance and Successes to Stakeholders
Employ your progressive ideas and opinions with industry plans to stretch out to other organizations and build strategic coalitions. Make use of early in policy consultations to aid in shaping awaiting national and international ecosystem associated policies and make sure that you are well placed to manage the repercussions. Reflect on leveraging media concern in biodiversity to reinforce your ideas.
The Importance of Biodiversity Risk in Tasmania
Biodiversity risk in Tasmania led to the call for biodiversity conservation among various stakeholders. In June 2009, the Australian minister for environment programmed Tasmanian on the agenda of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBCA) as a gravely jeopardized ecological society (Tasmanian Conservation Trust, 2011).
Actually, this was a momentous resolution by the minister as we cannot underestimate its significance for biodiversity preservation in Tasmania.
In conclusion, biodiversity risk affects businesses since the loss of biodiversity leads to: coastal flooding, desertification and food insecurity, all of which have impacts on business organizations. The main industries that are impacted by biodiversity risk include: forestry, farming, fishing and extractive industries.
Farmers are practicing sustainable methods of farming as one way of preparing for the biodiversity risk. Several tools can be used to measure the risk. Some of these include: ESR, NVI and IBAT.
There exist practical measures which businesses can use in managing their exposure to biodiversity risk. Among them are: evaluating possible risk for the business and communicating your initiatives, performance and success to stakeholders.
References
Barbier, E. B. (2007) Valuing ecosystem services as productive inputs. Economic Policy, 22 (49), 177-229.
Eliash, J. (2008) Eliash review: climate change. London, Financing Global Forests.
Garcia-Torres, L. (2001) Conservation agriculture in Europe: current status and perspectives. London, Sage.
Kevin, J. G. and John, I. S. (2004) Biodiversity: an introduction. 2nded. New York, Blackwell Publishing.
Leveque, C. and Mounolo, J. (2003) Biodiversity. New York, John Wiley.
Sala, O. E., Meyerson, L. A. and Parmesan, C. (2009) Biodiversity change and human health: from ecosystem services to spread of disease. New York, Island Press.
Tasmania Conservation Trust (2011) Private land biodiversity. Web.
Tor-Bjorn L. (2001) Biodiversity evaluation tools for European forests. New York, Wiley-Blackwell.
World Economic Forum (2011) Global Risks Report 2010. Web.
Worm, B. (2006) Impacts of biodiversity loss on ocean ecosystem services. London, Sage.