ABSTRACT
In recent years, the loss of biodiversity has become the focus of increasing interest in the bioethical debate on the relationship between man and nature. Human interventions pose a threat to biodiversity in a number of ways. So-called modern civilisations are associated with a continuously growing consumption of raw materials, energy, land and water. In addition to the general environmental pollution caused by modern civilisations, this association applies especially to large-scale land exploitation and to the expansion of industrial production in the areas of agriculture, forestry and fishery.
