BIODIVERSITY LOSS IS A PROBLEM FOR ALL OF US
Biodiversity – the amount and diversity of animals, plants, and insects on our planet - is under serious threat.
Forests are being cut down at an unprecedented rate. Insect eco-systems are collapsing from farming pesticides. Our seas are being overfished and polluted by billions of tonnes of plastic.
Yes, there are some bright spots, with individual species being saved from the brink of extinction, or the re-vegetation of spaces once dominated by human activity.
But the overall global picture is alarming – one of unsustainable decline in the quality and quantity of the world’s environment that if unchecked, will take centuries to repair.
Take the following statistics:
- Species are now going extinct at 1,000 times the normal rate;
- 42% of all species could be lost in South-East Asia by the end of this century if the current rate of biodiversity decline continues;
- More than 200,000 acres of rainforest are burned every day – equivalent to 78 million acres every year;
- Global wildlife populations fell by 69 per cent between 1970 and 2018; and
- 85 per cent of global fisheries are over exploited, depleted, or classified as fragile.
The culprit in all of this is obviously us - humans. Or more precisely, our desire to buy and accumulate more and more material ‘things’ each year. More clothes, bigger homes as well as more technology and appliances needing more energy to run them.
This means extracting more and more resources from the natural environment to supply our over-consuming society.
Climate change and biodiversity
Climate change attracts a lot of our attention. Rightly so, given the size of the problem and the long-term impacts of rising temperatures being faced by human and natural communities.
The hotter it gets, the more uninhabitable our natural environment becomes.
But such is the scale of our biodiversity crisis, that even if we’re able to keep global temperatures under control, the unsustainable rates of environmental destruction by human activity would likely continue.
Our cities will keep expanding rapidly into natural habitats. And we’ll drain more and more of our natural resources to make the things that meet our ever-growing expectations of ever higher living standards.
The Solution is Us
So, what is to be done?
The answers, like the problem, are far-reaching and complex.
Some argue we should fence off swathes of nature. Given the fact that the world’s human population continues to rise to new highs every year, that’s probably not realistic.
Ultimately, the answer lies with each of us.
We all need to think about ways to reduce, or at least moderate, our consumption levels. What we’ve come to think of as necessities are perhaps just luxuries. (Who really needs seven pairs of runners?)
As a lot of research shows, cutting ourselves off from nature through city living as well as social media means we lose the ability to appreciate and value nature. Perhaps that is why many of us don’t see the unprecedented destruction of biodiversity as our problem, or a problem at all.
The reality is we need nature more than nature needs us.
Not only does a resilient, biodiverse world supply us with the basic elements of our lives – clean air, fresh water and healthy food. We underestimate how important nature is to our mental as well as physical well-being.
Numerous studies also show how connecting with nature makes us more positive, less stressed, and more productive.
Building back nature starts in our own homes. Nurturing plants might seem a small step to rebuilding biodiversity. But what if we all decided to grow and nurture three times more plants in our home.
We would not only play our part in helping nature recover, and in the process improve our own well-being. We’d also appreciate the wonder of nature more and so better understand the true impacts of our overconsumption on biodiversity.
Sources:
National Geographic
Our World In Data
Harvard School Of Public Health
