'Biodiversity' refers to the diversity of genes, species, ecosystems and ecoregions. Like other

sectors in the Australian economy, the cotton industry has a duty of care to ensure its

environmental sustainability, including conserving and enhancing the biodiversity upon which

it depends and minimising negative environmental impacts. Australia ratified the United

Nations Convention on BiologicaI Diversity, in June 1992. The Convention noted the global

loss of biodiversity as a result of human activities, identified the need to conserve biodiversity

in viable areas of natural or restored habitat, and recognised the need to mitigate the processes

that most threaten biodiversity. Subsequent Commonwealth and State legislation and policies

have given effect to the Convention.

Biodiversity is important for ecosystem (life support), ethical, aesthetic and cultural and

economic reasons. The challenge is to balance utilisation of biodiversity on the one hand with

its conservation to ensure that present and future human welfare is not compromised. This is

not easy due to the value judgements and diversity of private and public interests involved, as

well as the incomplete nature of the science of biodiversity and its poor predictive power for

decision making. This report aims to revioew the literature of past and current cotton-funded research and is limited to

Queensland and New South Wales cotton growing areas.