I’d like to assume that most people on this earth care about their lives and want to live. Therefore, I believe that it is in their highest interest to care, value, and protect biodiversity, plants, and animals.

–Charnes

plants and animals are essential to our survival. They are a part of a delicate balance that provides us with the environment we live in today.

–Greetis

We are so dependent on biodiversity for our own life in ways that we don’t even know of. Not saving them is like killing ourselves. . . . My hope is that somebody would be able to see this argument and even if they were as anti-‘save the rainforest’ as it gets, they would still see the value in saving biodiversity out of their own self interest.

–Grisco

Nature supports every aspect of our lives from what we eat to protecting us from damaging floods. If we weaken nature by reducing biodiversity, we weaken our own support system.

–Krone

. . . the thing that most people care about is, well, themselves. Not only do we need biodiversity for our individual well-being, but also we need it for the self-preservation of our species.

–Martin

The strongest argument to value and protect biodiversity is that all life has intrinsic value, therefore all plants/animals/insects have the right to live for their own sake.

–MacDonald

All species have intrinsic value; they are living, breathing creatures and plants that are not placed on earth simply to provide humans with enjoyment and profit. Just as humans enjoy freedom to do as they want (and to basically dominate the entire world), other beings on the planet deserve the right to live freely as well.

–Shah

of all adverse environmental impacts man has made to the planet, the irreversible damage done to biodiversity is by far the largest. . . . In nature, everything intertwines, so when any one aspect is damaged or inhibited, the domino effect kicks in and as a result, we see other sectors of the environment suffer as a result.’

–Solner

Basically, I know preserving nature and protecting biodiversity is important, but I can’t put into words why we should care.  Most of the reasons I could come up with are selfish: humans want to see different species, kids like zoos, ecotourism is emerging, and “nature is healing” (whatever that means).  None of these reasons take into account why wildlife might want to be preserved.

–Taria

If we do not preserve organisms of other kind in the world, we will be attempting to live in a society all by ourselves. To me this picture of the existence of the human culture alone itself is unnatural.

–Wang