The argument for concentrating on conserving particular endangered species is the easiest to dismiss, as it lacks logic or scientific reason. We're all aware of how we've made a sow's ear out of the silk purse that was once our planet. Gaps yawn in the ozone layer, birds gasp in polluted air, beasts huddle in shrinking rainforests, and fish gulp in foul seas. We live in an age of consumer satisfaction, instant solutions to pressing problems. They will hang about long enough to allow us to slump back in our armchairs, glowing with the justifiable smugness of the hardened front-line commando of conservation.
Problem is, doing that is pointless.
We're getting good at keeping ourselves alive, the laws of natural selection no longer apply, and the result is a lot more people. This brings more demand for food, energy, and land. The population of the Earth, as I write this, is too large for the global environment, it's growing at a terrifying rate and it's not stopping. The juggernaut of overpopulation is just cranking up through the gears, and your bamboo copse is right en route. Sorry, no brakes, you see.