INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY 2021

Biodiversity is a term used to describe the enormous variety of life on Earth. It refers to every living thing, including plants, bacteria, animals, and humans.

It is the living fabric of our planet and underpins human wellbeing in the present and the future, and its rapid decline is a threat to nature and people alike. This diversity resources are the pillars upon which we build civilizations. Fish provide 20 per cent of animal protein to about 3 billion people. Over 80 per cent of the human diet is gotten from plants. As many as 80 per cent of people living in rural areas in developing countries rely on traditional plant‐based medicines for basic healthcare.

A loss of biodiversity threatens all, including our health. It has been proven that biodiversity loss could increase the number of diseases transmitted from animals to humans- while, on the other hand, if we keep biodiversity intact, it offers excellent tools to fight against pandemics like those caused by coronaviruses.

While there is a growing recognition that biological diversity is a global asset of tremendous value to future generations, the number of species is being significantly reduced by certain human activities. Given the importance of public education and awareness about this issue, the UN decided to celebrate the International Day for Biological Diversity annually.

IDB 2021 – We’re part of the solution. #ForNature

The UN Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity announced the slogan of the International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) on 22 May 2021: “We’re part of the solution” The slogan was chosen as a follow up on the momentum that was generated last year under the theme “Our solutions are in nature“, which served as a reminder that biodiversity is the answer to several sustainable development challenges. From nature-based solutions to climate, health issues, food and water security, and sustainable livelihoods; biodiversity is the foundation upon which we can build back better.

Did you know?

• Current negative trends in biodiversity and ecosystems will undermine progress towards 80% of the assessed targets of 8 Sustainable Development Goals?
• Three-quarters of the land-based environment and about 66% of the marine environment have been significantly altered by human actions?
• 1 million animal and plant species are now threatened with extinction?

Interesting facts that could stir your interest in Biodiversity;

• Coral reefs have the most diverse ecosystem on Earth.
• Changes in ocean temperature, length of seasons, and amount of precipitation are all factors that affect the level of biodiversity.
• Madagascar is an example of a biodiversity hotspot because roughly 98% of its living organisms cannot survive anywhere else on Earth.
• Planting certain types of trees outside your home or school is one way to combat the decrease in biodiversity because it helps control climate.

Here are also some profound quotes on the subject of biodiversity;

“Biodiversity is the greatest treasure we have, its diminishment has to be prevented at all costs”- Thomas Eisner

“Every time we lose a species we break a life chain which has evolved over 3.5 billion years.” – Jeff McNelly

“Biodiversity starts in the distant past and it points toward the future.”- Francis Lanting

“The preservation of biodiversity is not just a job for governments. International and non-governmental organisations, the private sector and each individual have a role to play in changing entrenched outlooks and ending destructive patterns of behaviour.” — Kofi Annan

In closing the United Nations Biodiversity Summit delivered by H.E. Volkan Bozkir, President of the 75th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, 30 September 2020, he said;

“I need not remind you that biodiversity loss undermines global efforts to tackle poverty and hunger – no biodiversity means no food security. In this, and in everything we do to protect nature, we must learn from indigenous peoples. We must use education, science and local and indigenous knowledge to restore the relationship between people and the natural world, and restore degraded ecosystems on land and at sea.”

References

www.un.org/pga/75/2020/09/30/closing-of-the-united-nations-biodiversity-summit/. Accessed December 2020

www.quotefancy.com

www.unep.org/events/un-day/international-day-biological-diversity-were-part-solution-fornature. Accessed April 2021

www.nationalgeographic.org. Accessed April 2019

en.unesco.org/commemorations/biodiversityday

www.un.org/en/observances/biological-diversity-day

www.softschools.com/facts/biology/biodiversity_facts/404/