The importance of biodiversity can be in three forms, viz. economic value, medicinal value and environmental value:
1. Economic Value: Biodiversity has immense economic value. We get food, fuel, fodder, timber, industrial raw materials, etc. directly from biodiversity. We are able to get different types of food, like rice, wheat, pulses, vegetables, fruits, etc. because of biodiversity.
2. Medicinal Value: Herbs are being used as cure for many diseases since ancient times. As per one estimate, about 40% of the medicines are obtained from plants. Many incurable diseases have appeared on earth from times to time. Cure for such disease has been searched in the biodiversity. For example, malaria was considered as incurable but bark of cinchona gave its cure.
3. Environmental Value: Biodiversity has immense environmental value, as it helps in conservation of food chain, nutrient cycle, etc.
