Who Cares About Biodiversity? I Do.

The United Nations declared 2010 The Year Of Conservation. Yet this year the Earth’s natural environment has copped a hammering on an unprecedented scale through a series of natural and human-made environmental disasters.

Destruction reeked from natural disasters and human-made pollution this year alone has highlighted (if nothing else) one salient fact: For all the advancements in technology and modern thinking, humans in the 21st Century are not even close to living in happy harmony with the environment.

The human and environmental devastation resulting from the recent flooding in Pakistan is reportedly more severe than the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the Haiti earthquake earlier this year combined.

The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the subsequent actions of British Petroleum to clean up the mess raised the ire of farmers, fishermen and US citizens who relied on the health of the entire ecosystem as the source of their income, their food and their survival.

The economic costs of this disaster could in fact be a tipping point in the mainstream conscious of America – the world’s most powerful nation: The natural environment has a value that extends beyond money; beyond the body corporate boardrooms; beyond the hip pockets of their executive management; beyond quick returns to shareholders and short term profits margins.

The value of a healthy natural environment became clear to millions of people in wake of Deepwater – particularly the residents of Louisiana and surrounding states.

Global power brokers, local politicians, law makers and policy writers have been frustratingly slow to act in offering support and rewards to encourage greener industries and sustainable practices.

The importance of sustainable practices and conservation of our natural resources has been drowned out amid the media holler surrounding climate change; poor global governance; impoverished corporate ethics; populist political spin; faceless intervention of lobbyists; and moreover – weak leadership from those who we (in democratic countries) elect as our decision makers.

Why is conservation important???

Well because it encourages higher biodiversity in the number of species in an ecosystem…

So what. Big deal. Who cares?

Me.

I do.

I care.

And you should too…if for no other reason than the fact biodiversity sustains life.

Almost all species are dependent on other species to live. They depend on other species for food, soil quality, shelter and the ability to reproduce.

The loss of a single species can have far-reaching consequences for many other species when lines of dependency are severed.

All species share the planet. Including our mob – Homo sapiens.

Our relationship to all of the Earth’s species is not unlike the threads of a vast spider web that stretches across the globe… it is possible to cut a thread here and there without damaging the surrounding threads or weakening the structure.

Cutting more and more threads will eventually bring down whole sections of the web and destroy its foundation. Which leaves the remaining threads – or in this case, species – weak and vulnerable.

But if that isn’t enough to blow your hair back then consider the statement below from the Convention on Biodiversity website:

“At least 40 per cent of the world’s economy and 80 per cent of the needs of the poor are derived from biological resources. In addition, the richer the diversity of life, the greater the opportunity for medical discoveries, economic development, and adaptive responses to such new challenges as climate change.”

It has become an imperative for the leaders of today to adopt an environmental stewardship that transcends jurisdictions and geo-political boundaries.

The leaders of today must forgo factional loyalties, admit we have made mistakes and learn from the lessons of the past if we truly care about the future of our species on this planet.

And that takes courage. By Vanessa Wilson, Newsvine