What is biodiversity?
From bears, salmon and worms to trees, soil
and fungi, biodiversity is the library of
life.
It is the diversity of species living in an
area and the relationships we have with
one another.
Humans rely on biodiversity to purify our
water and air and to provide us with rich
soils to nourish our food crops.
Sadly, biodiversity is being destroyed in
front of our very eyes.
Its safety net is failing.
This is happening because of habitat loss,
invasive species, pollution, overexploitation,
and our current climate crisis.
Because of a number of human created conditions,
we have now entered the sixth mass extinction.
The level of loss taking place is by far the
most extreme since the die-off of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
 
Since 1970, we have lost 60% of our mammals,
birds, fish and reptiles, and 2⁄3 of our
invertebrate friends like bugs and bees.
When compared to the human population, that’s
the equivalent of emptying North America,
South America, Africa, Europe, China and Oceania.
With the disappearance of all this diversity,
some species will inevitably take over, and
wreak more havoc on our planet.
But there’s good news.
Many governments across the world have already
started to take action.
With an agreement laid out in 2011, over a
100 countries committed to protecting at least
17% of land and inland water as well as 10%
of coastal and marine areas by 2020.
But we can do even better.
We have a chance at sustaining the diversity of life.
Let’s go for 30% by 2030, or even, imagine, 50%.
And there are many things we can do as individuals.
Even the little things we do in our own backyards
can help increase diversity.
With more people helping these small creatures,
diversity in the neighbourhood starts to spread.
There’s lots of simple initiatives
we can join or even start in our communities.
We can also encourage the government to help
change the culture around sustaining nature
and the ecosystems upon which we depend.
We can all help save our species.
Even small acts can have a ripple effect.
By changing our behaviour with nature, we
can help protect biodiversity and reduce climate
pollution.
The world is grey without biodiversity, but
we can all make a difference now.
