Which of the following is an example of a narrowly utilitarian reason…

The correct answer is Option (3) → The availability of medicinal plants

The book groups the reasons for conserving biodiversity into three kinds. Narrowly utilitarian reasons are the direct economic benefits people take from nature: food, firewood, fibre, industrial products and medicines. Broadly utilitarian reasons are the ecosystem services nature gives. Ethical reasons are about our moral duty to other species.

Option (1) The aesthetic pleasure of walking through a forest — Incorrect. The pleasure of walking through woods is an intangible benefit from nature. The book places it under the broadly utilitarian argument, not as a direct product.

Option (2) The oxygen produced by the Amazon rainforest — Incorrect. The Amazon forest makes about 20 per cent of the earth’s oxygen through photosynthesis. This is an ecosystem service, which is a broadly utilitarian reason.

Option (3) The availability of medicinal plants — Correct. Medicinal plants give products of medicinal importance, a direct economic benefit. More than 25 per cent of drugs sold in the world come from plants.

Option (4) The responsibility to preserve species for future generations — Incorrect. The duty to pass species on to future generations is a moral reason. It belongs to the ethical argument.

NCERT Extract:
Why Should We Conserve Biodiversity? – “There are many reasons, some obvious and others not so obvious, but all equally important. They can be grouped into three categories: narrowly utilitarian, broadly utilitarian, and ethical. The narrowly utilitarian arguments for conserving biodiversity are obvious; humans derive countless direct economic benefits from nature–food (cereals, pulses, fruits), firewood, fibre, construction material, industrial products (tannins, lubricants, dyes, resins, perfumes ) and products of medicinal importance.”