Humanity is no more important than any other species. Wilderness has to be defended by thoughtful people against thoughtless people. We need to understand that our systems of greed and dominance are problems and must be changed. Nothing can be done about animal rights until our systems are changed. The earth's systems will not allow everyone on earth to enjoy the North American diet of meat.
Every organism plays an important role in balancing and stabilizing nature.
Each organism is a unique experiment of nature which creates chemical compounds that can be found nowhere else. We may believe something has no use now, but we have no idea what use it might have in the future. The destruction of an organism now is the permanent loss of an opportunity to find something useful to help humanity. All of life consists of making choices and paying costs. Every time somebody does something it is possible to hurt or destroy something.