Biodiversity Prospecting: Shopping the Wilds Is Not the Key to Conservation

Resources for the Future (RFF) research on biodiversity prospecting indicates that biodiversity may be important for any number of commercial, ecological, esthetic, ethical or even spiritual reasons. However, when it comes to commercial prospecting among natural sources for new products, the value of biodiversity is not as high as some conservationists might suppose. It is therefore necessary to develop more workable incentives for conservation.