The Green Review

The term “biodiversity” or “biological diversity” refers to the living animals/plants and the processes that affect their abundance, expressed at genetic, species and ecosystem levels. Simply put, biodiversity describes the variety of all life on Earth, in all its forms and interactions at different levels.

Why is biodiversity important?

Past research has shown that biodiversity is essential to all life on earth. It is important to recognize that it is responsible for the wide range of ecosystem functions and services we rely on for our health and well-being. These include water filtration, climate regulation and recreation. Equally important, healthy ecosystems provide critical resources such as the air we breathe and food we eat. Biodiversity is also known for playing a vital role in the economy. Many industries such as agriculture, tourism and pharmaceuticals rely on biodiversity. Therefore, it is important to ensure biodiversity is maintained at all levels.

The United Nations declared the period from 2011-2020 as the decade of Biodiversity to promote public awareness and implement actions that protect and conserve biodiversity around the world. Throughout the decade, the global community raised awareness on biodiversity among the youth and supported governance systems on newly developed commitments in response to the urgency of the need for action. Notably, China made great efforts at biodiversity conservation across the agriculture, forestry, and fishery sectors of the economy. However, more global efforts are required to conserve biodiversity. As a result, the United Nations has extended its biodiversity conservation efforts to the decade on ecosystem restoration: to prevent, halt and reverse ecosystem degradation.

Threats to Biodiversity?

We are currently the biggest threat to biodiversity. Several human activities have led to habitat fragmentation, invasive species introduction, pollution, climate change and the loss of connectivity between habitable green spaces for wildlife. As the human population increases, more resources are required to sustain the population. Forests are converted to farmland to support agricultural practices. This results in habitat fragmentation which forms small, isolated patches of land that cannot maintain large populations of species in the future.

Furthermore, humans introduce exotic plant species to ecosystems in which they do not belong for various reasons e.g., ornamental. These species end up out competing native species due to the lack of co-evolved predators or parasites. Similarly, the introduction of invasive wildlife species disrupts ecosystem dynamics. In both cases, native species risk being destroyed by exotic or invasive species and therefore result in the loss of native biodiversity.

Lastly, the increase in atmospheric greenhouse gases caused by burning fossil fuels is one of the main threats to biodiversity. It results in air pollution, increased temperatures, variation in weather on various scales and influences the distribution of vegetation across landscapes. Climate adapted species are expected to resist these changes while those less resilient will become extinct or expand their natural ranges to acquire suitable habitat conditions. Once again, the loss of these species will result in the loss of biodiversity.

What can you do to conserve biodiversity?

Here are a few things you can do to increase biodiversity:

1. Grow a pollinator friendly garden
2. Limit the use of pesticides
3. Create habitat for native species (build a bird house)
4. Buy from local farmers