Humanity must rethink its relationship with nature and bet more on the care of all species, is the global call today as we celebrate the International Day of Biological Diversity.
“If biological diversity has a problem, man does too, since those resources are the pillars that sustain civilizations,” says the United Nations report on the subject. According to the international body, the loss of diversity threatens all these areas, including health.
Strong evidence
“There is evidence that losing biodiversity could increase cases of zoonoses, that is, diseases transmitted from animals to humans; While, if it can be kept stable, it would be a great tool in the fight against pandemics such as the current COVID-19, caused by SARS-CoV-2 “, the text points out.
Under the slogan “I am part of the solution”, this day is commemorated throughout the world, which precedes several international events related to the subject, such as the United Nations Conference on Biodiversity COP15, which will take place in October, in Kunming, China.
During this meeting, the achievements and implementation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 will be reviewed and the final decision on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework will be adopted. In addition, in 2021 begins the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development and the UN Decade for the Restoration of Ecosystems.
Biodiversity context
Biodiversity is the wide variety of existing plants, animals and microorganisms and includes the genetic differences within each species -for example, between crop varieties and livestock breeds-, as well as the plurality of ecosystems: lakes, forests, deserts, agricultural fields.
All of them harbor multiple interactions between their members (humans, plants, animals) and their environment (water, air, soil). Recent data indicates that fish provide 20 percent of animal protein to about three billion people.
Furthermore, more than 80 percent of the human diet is made up of plants, and an equal number of people living in rural areas of developing countries rely on traditional plant-based medicines for basic health care.
Every year, the International Day of Biological Diversity is celebrated, proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly with the aim of raising awareness about its importance, as well as the need to preserve it for current and future generations.
In 1992, the Convention on Biological Diversity was signed at the Earth Summit of the United Nations, which was approved by 196 countries, with the purpose of encouraging the protection, care and conservation of the variety of species of the planet.
One of the best ways to attain minimize biodiversity loss is to edicate mankind as to the extent, complexity, interrelatedness, interconnectedness, multifacetedness, multidimensionality and exponentiality of the environmental destructions that a very simple product like pencil causes. A pencil, backtracking up to the fifth level, has involved 1.234 trillion resources in its entire product cycle. Each resource undergoes the 8 economic activities that likewise require energy in their performance and which also generates several and different forms of wastes. Performance of activities, generation and transmission pf power and wastes much more so if not properly disposecd of cause fso much environmental destructions. These are things that mankind need to realize if we would like to conserve biodiversity.
Excellent reflection. I’m sure that our readers will agree with you.