Middle eastern extinctions: building a religious motivation for species protection

Abstract

The extinction and biodiversity accounting literature focused initially on developed economies including the UK and Europe, spreading recently to research on Africa, especially South Africa, China and other countries in the Far East. This chapter addresses species extinctions in Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Libya to provide insights into the situation in these countries, problems and issues arising, as well as potential solutions. It presents the causes of species extinctions in the Middle East and provides information on some of the initiatives underway to prevent extinctions. The chapter builds a religious rationale, indeed imperative, for species protection and biodiversity conservation. It discusses the status of threatened species in Saudi Arabia, providing an understanding of the importance of religion as a rationale for species protection.