Biodiversity refers to the variety of life on Earth. It includes everything from all the plant, animal, and microorganism species in the world, that make up the different ecosystems we can find across the planet, such as deserts, rainforests, coral reefs, and polar ice caps.
Biodiversity is the foundation of all life on Earth. It provides everything humanity needs. So, the more biodiversity there is, the more secure all life on Earth is––including ours!
Biodiversity maintains the health and resilience of nature.
It is responsible for the stability of our entire planet and the survival of all of humanity. Humans depend on biodiversity for everything, including food, freshwater, medicine, safety from natural hazards, construction materials, and resistance to pathogens.
Biodiversity also provides us with goods and services that help sustain human life - these ecosystem services are the benefits that people obtain from natural ecosystems. They include:
Direct benefits, such as water, food, timber, fiber, and fuel.
Processes that regulate floods, water quality, diseases, waste, and climate.
Processes that provide oxygen, nutrient cycling, and soil formation.
Cultural benefits, such as recreational, aesthetic, educational, and spiritual services.
Biodiversity is deeply interconnected with every dimension of our well-being. Protecting biodiversity improves our health, economies, political systems, and global environment:
Biodiversity improves our health by providing food security, access to safe water and sanitation, and protection against climate change.
Biodiversity improves our economies by providing resilience to the ecosystems and resources that our economic activities depend on.
Biodiversity improves our political systems by preventing competition for resources, which increases social stability and inclusion.
Biodiversity improves our global environment by providing stability to ecosystems through resistance and resilience.
By learning more about the species around us,
we can learn how to reduce our negative impact!
Now more than ever, we are seeing the local and global consequences that result from biodiversity loss. It is through programs like the Nosara Biodiversity Project that we hope to contribute to this mission and assist others in doing so, too. Check out our project page on iNaturalist to see and learn about what species have been sighted in the area!
References
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005. Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Biodiversity
Synthesis. World Resources Institute, Washington, DC. Available at https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.354.aspx.pdf&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1628535523181000&usg=AOvVaw1tkHw6nGRQQsFPTnDLHsr7
Sachs, J. D. (2015). The age of sustainable development. New York: Columbia University Press
Silva, J., & Topf, J. (2020). Conservation and development: A cross-disciplinary overview.
Environmental Conservation, 1-9. doi:10.1017/S0376892920000247 Available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/environmental-conservation/article/conservation-and-development-a-crossdisciplinary-overview/E27616BCCC46EE3D817A6C56638A8648/share/cb8adfafb60b6b066ce629e9f8727df4bcb2cdbe
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