Biodiversity Conservation And Its Role In Maintaining Ecosystem Services: Implications For Human Well-Being

Abstract

Biodiversity underpins ecosystem resilience and the constant provision of facilities vital to maintaining human well-being. It examines the interface between biodiversity conservation, ecosystem service provision, and human well-being based on integrating field-based biodiversity measurement, ecosystem service valuation, and socio-economic analysis in six varied ecosystems, for instance, primary forests, secondary forests, wetlands, agroforestry, and cultivated lands. The findings show that ecosystems rich in biodiversity supplied significantly more provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural services compared to degraded ecosystems. Species-rich ecosystems offered more access to primary resources like fuelwood, medicinal plants, water, and wild edible species and supported significant ecological processes like carbon sequestration, soil quality, and pollination. Socio-economic impacts reflected a reliance of societies on biodiversity-related resources for livelihood, food security, and identity, with the majority of families being willing to pay for conservation since there is increased appreciation of the significance of biodiversity. Statistical analysis revealed a strong positive correlation of biodiversity, availability of ecosystem services, and human well-being, reaffirming that, in fact biodiversity is a major driver of sustainable development. The research finds that there is a critical need for cross-scale, community-led conservation efforts that strike a balance between ecological interest and human development imperatives. Conservation of biodiversity is essential to preserve ecosystem resilience, safeguard natural resources, and ensure long-term socio-economic and environmental sustainability.