The Value of biodiversity

The biodiversity in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area has immense value. The direct use values include the industries that rely on the GBRWHA as a resource, for example

• Commercial fishing
• Commercial tourisms;
• Recreational fishing;
• Recreational boating;
• Indigenous uses;
• Education and research;
• Bioprospecting (for compounds found in marine organisms that are useful to humans); and
• Shipping.

Indirect use values of biodiversity include:

• Shoreline/coastal protection;
• Maintenance of migration and nursery habitats;
• Maintenance of biological diversity, including fish stocks;
• Organic mater storage and recycling;
• Waste assimilation and reception;
• Visual amenity;
• Essential for proper function of ecosystems

For further reading on the ecosystem function of coral reefs click here to get a copy of the scientific publication ‘Biodiversity and ecosystem function of coral reefs’ by Done TJ, Ogden JC, Wiebe WJ, Rosen BR (1996). In: Functional Roles of Biodiversity: A Global Perspective. Chapter 15. HA Mooney, JH Cushman, E Medina, OE Sala, E-D Schultze (eds), pp. 393 – 429. John Wiley, Chichester.

Values of biodiversity also include:

• Option values (variety in opportunities for human appreciation and use
• Existence values (the value of biodiversity for their own sake), and
• Bequest values (what we pass on to following generations).

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