[geoalchimista]

Not disagreeing with you, but from my perception of economics as a field, biodiversity is not a topic that attracts a lot of attention. Working on biodiversity topics does not lead to a top 5 journal publication or a job in a prestigious institution for an economist. I doubt there is a strong incentive for economists to take on this problem. On the other hand, ecologists have been working on biodiversity for a long time. Of course, a collaboration between economists and people who work on biodiversity would seem most effective.