Raw Material for Industry - impacts on biodiversity

The industry, producing goods and services, relies and impacts on biodiversity directly. Much of the raw material that goes into industrial operations is a by-product of biodiversity. The trees, the animal organs, the microbial culture are a few examples of sources of raw materials. Plants and animals provide a wide variety of resources used in industry and commerce for both domestic and commercial markets. As many as 2000 plant species throughout the world are known for their economic importance. The building, furniture and paper making industries are dependent on more than one hundred different species of trees. Cotton, flax, hemp and jute provide fibre for manufacture of textiles, ropes and other articles. For example, plant extracts are used in the manufacture of glues, soaps, cosmetics, dyes, paints, plastics, lubricants and polishes. Household implements such as needles and hooks are made from horns, scales and fins of animal origin. Fat from wild species (e.g. marine mammals and sharks) is used to produce a range of oils. Wildlife products such as cane and other lianas, bark, fur, hides, scales, bones and feathers are used to make a vari ety of clothing and utensils.

The silk industry is dependent on several species of silkworms, but the finest silk is obtained from the mulberry silk moth, which is now domesticated. The moth pupae which are left after extracting the silk during sericulture, are used to produce soap and cosmetics. Cochineal, a brilliant red colouring agent formerly widely used in the food and cloth industries, is also an insect product obtained from the semi -domesticated form of a scale insect.