Saving endangered plants and animals all over the World is extremely important. These plants and animals help humans in many ways: some hold medicinal value, others agricultural, or ecological, commercial and aesthetic value. Endangered species must be protected and saved for future generations.
Today about 40% of medications are made from the natural compounds of different plants and animals. Unfortunately, only 5% of known plant species have been screened for their medicinal values, and we continue to lose up to 100 plant species daily. At the same time, there are more than 1,000 animal species endangered worldwide.
There are an estimated 80,000 edible plants in the world. Humans depend upon only 20 species of these plants, such as wheat and corn, to provide 90% of the world's food. Wild relatives of these common crops contain essential disease-resistant material. They also provide humans with ways to develop new crops that can grow in inadequate lands such as in poor soils or drought-stricken areas to help solve the world hunger problem. In the 1970s, genetic material from a wild corn species in Mexico was used to stop a leaf fungus that had previously wiped out 15% of the U.S. corn crop.
© 2006 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
