For example, more than 70 per cent of the chemical compounds used in drugs in industrialised countries have the same or similar uses in traditional medicines. The rapid growth of nature-based travel, or ecotourism, is a good indicator of the recreational value of biodiversity. Born in the late 1960s, ecotourism, which includes forest trekking, white water rafting, horse riding, wildlife safaris and similar activities, now represents a growing percentage of international tourism. In many parts of the world, ecotourism is providing direct benefits to local communities in the form of wages to guide, or revenue from the sale of marketable products based on natural resources. The ethical and religious value of biodiversity is rooted in the understanding that humanity is part of nature and that we are just one species among others.
All species have an inherent right to exist.
Future generations also have an inherent right to know them and to have the choice of using them or not. Religions also have a significant impact on our attitude towards natural resources. The Buddhist perception of nature, for example, is based on different practices and approaches than that of Christian beliefs, though both are consistent with conserving biodiversity. There is no denying the pleasure that we obtain from the diversity of nature or from observing the miracles of life. For millennia, the esthetic value of biodiversity has been expressed in many forms, through art, poetry, songs, literature, music and even dance.