Stop illegal Internet trade to protect biodiversity

With the advent of eBay and Internet shopping, purchasing different commodities from all corners of the world became far easier. Simply by entering your credit card information and clicking your mouse, you can buy and have delivered to your cozy American home an ancient Samurai sword from an antique collector in Japan or an early edition of your favorite 18th-century novel from a small bookstore in Great Britain.

Unfortunately, this means people can more easily sell things that would be better left untouched. This past weekend the 175 nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species met in Doha, Qatar, in the Middle East. There they discussed the Internet’s impact on the illegal trade of endangered species.

The species focused on at the meeting was the Kaiser’s spotted newt, a black and brown salamander with white spots. The newt is popular in the illegal pet trade, and on the Internet, sellers can find buyers who will pay hundreds of dollars for an individual. Populations of Kaiser’s spotted newt have been reduced dangerously close to extinction due to illegal Internet trade.

Other species and species artifacts are commonly sold illegally on the Internet. Pink coral, African elephant ivory, exotic birds, and polar bear pelts are among the popular items. All these species are threatened with becoming more endangered by extinction due to this illegal trade.

You might wonder why anyone would worry about the relocation of a species that seems so unimportant as a small salamander or bird. What impact could this possibly have on the environment? This boils down to the importance of biodiversity.

Biodiversity, according the National Park Conservation Association, encompasses the variety of distinct species within a given area, genetic diversity within a given population and the variety of ecosystems within a given geographic region. Biodiversity is important to human life because of the ecosystem services provided by a diverse environment.

For example, plants benefit humans all sorts of ways. They provide us with shade and breathable oxygen, they prevent erosion and flooding and they take up carbon dioxide from the environment. Not to mention the fact that many plants are breathtaking sites in their natural environments. As plant diversity decreases due to degradation by humans, plants will not be able to carry out their ecosystem functions quite so efficiently or effectively.

Similarly, salamanders and birds provide ecosystem services, and while their connection to humans is not so clear-cut, it is definitely present. One obvious way the diversity of exotic birds benefits humans is through income generated by responsible bird tourism. Bird enthusiasts pay big money to travel near and far to catch a glimpse of a rare colorful bird, but if a species of bird goes extinct, then there will be no more money to be made in tourism related to that bird.

As the illegal trade of wildlife and plants continues to grow with the Internet, our Earth’s biodiversity will be increasingly threatened. Spread your awareness that biodiversity is important to all people and that purchasing illegal biota on the Internet is dangerous and wrong.


E-mail: kslabosk@indiana.edu