Abstract

Biodiversity is the living fabric of the planet, around us. Our world is rapidly approaching planetary boundaries; across climate, biodiversity, freshwater scarcity, nutrient levels, air quality, inter alia. Economies worldwide are still headed in the wrong direction; towards resource exhaustion, social disparities and persistent poverty. Breached thresholds will lead ecosystems into new states of equilibrium, which may not be any good for human life, society or economy. Our planet’s regenerative capacity is being greatly exceeded as the world’s population is now producing and consuming more resources than ever. An economic perspective on ecosystem management is essential for decision makers who invariably have to struggle with resource constraints and conflicting choices while designing and implementing development policies. This Conference will greatly contribute in raising public awareness of the contribution of ecosystem services and biodiversity towards human welfare, and on human impact on biodiversity and ecosystems, as well as identifying areas where action can make a positive difference. This conference will feature keynote and plenary lectures from experts in this field, to foster enthusiasm towards scientific research work and the will facilitate advancement of knowledge. This will be a platform for dissemination of the knowledge on our theme which will benefit our society.