towns, that endeavour to emulate the work of well known Conservation Organisations, are paramount in ensuring generations that follow understand the importance of natural resource conservation. Values of natural habitat The natural environment is a source for a wide range of resources that can be exploited for economic profit, for example timber is harvested from forests and clean water is obtained from natural streams. However, land development from anthropogenic economic growth often causes a decline in the ecological integrity of nearby natural habitat. For instance, this was an issue in the northern Rocky Mountains of the US. However, there is also the economic value in conserving natural habitats. Financial profit can be made from tourist revenue, for example in the tropics where species diversity is high, or in recreational sports which take place in natural environments such as hiking and mountain biking. The cost of repairing damaged ecosystems is considered to be much higher than the cost of conserving natural ecosystems. Measuring the worth of conserving different habitat areas is often criticized as being too utilitarian from a philosophical point of view. Biodiversity Habitat conservation is important in maintaining biodiversity, an essential part of global food security. There is evidence to support a trend of accelerating erosion of the genetic resources of agricultural plants and animals. An increase in genetic similarity of agricultural plants and animals means an increased risk of food loss from major epidemics. Wild species of agricultural plants have been found to be more resistant to disease, for example the wild corn species Teosinte is resistant to 4 corn diseases that affect human grown crops. A combination of seed banking and habitat conservation has been proposed to maintain plant diversity for food security purposes. Classifying environmental values Pearce and Moran outlined the following method for classifying environmental uses: Direct extractive uses: e.g. timber from forests, food from plants and animals Indirect uses: e.g. ecosystem services like flood control, pest control, erosion protection Optional uses: future possibilities e.g. unknown but potential use of plants in chemistry/medicine Non-use values: Bequest value (benefit of an individual who knows that others may benefit from it in future) Passive use value (sympathy for natural environment, enjoyment of the mere existence of a particular species) Impacts Natural causes Habitat loss and destruction can occur both naturally and through anthropogenic causes. Events leading to natural habitat loss include climate change, catastrophic events such as