Michigan Laws 324.35502 – Legislative findings
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The legislature finds that:
(a) The earth’s biological diversity is an important natural resource. Decreasing biological diversity is a concern.
Terms Used In Michigan Laws 324.35502
- Biological diversity: means the full range of variety and variability within and among living organisms and the natural associations in which they occur. See Michigan Laws 324.35501
- Ecosystem: means an assemblage of species, together with the species' physical environment, considered as a unit. See Michigan Laws 324.35501
- Habitat: means the area or type of environment in which an organism or biological population normally lives or occurs. See Michigan Laws 324.35501
(b) Most losses of biological diversity are unintended consequences of human activity.
(c) Humans depend on biological resources, including plants, animals, and microorganisms, for food, medicine, shelter, and other important products.
(d) Biological diversity is valuable as a source of intellectual and scientific knowledge, recreation, and aesthetic pleasure.
(e) Conserving biological diversity has economic implications.
(f) Reduced biological diversity may have potentially serious consequences for human welfare as resources for research and agricultural, medicinal, and industrial development are diminished.
(g) Reduced biological diversity may also potentially impact ecosystems and critical ecosystem processes that moderate climate, govern nutrient cycles and soil conservation and production, control pests and diseases, and degrade wastes and pollutants.
(h) Reduced biological diversity may diminish the raw materials available for scientific and technical advancement, including the development of improved varieties of cultivated plants and domesticated animals.
(i) Maintaining biological diversity through habitat protection and management is often less costly and more effective than efforts to save species once they become endangered.
(j) Because biological resources will be most important for future needs, study by the legislature regarding maintaining the diversity of living organisms in their natural habitats and the costs and benefits of doing so is prudent.