Biodiversity: what is it, also how can we protect it?
Governments worldwide meet later this year to discuss how human activities can be prevented from causing the extinction of animal and plant species. They hope to present a long-term plan to address the threat to life on earth in all its forms at the United Nations Conference on Biological Diversity in China.
What is biodiversity, and why is it significant?
Animals and plants provide humans with everything they need to survive including freshwater, food, and medicine.
Biodiversity: why it matters in five charts
However, we cannot benefit from individual species we need a wide variety of animals and plants to work and thrive together. In other words, we need biodiversity.
Plants are also critical to improving our physical environment - by cleaning the air, we breathe, limiting temperature rise, and providing protection against climate change. Mangrove swamps and coral reefs can be erosion barriers from rising sea levels. And common trees in cities like London airplanes or tulip trees are very good at absorbing carbon dioxide and removing air pollution.
How many species are threatened with extinction?
It is usual for species to evolve and become extinct over time - 98% of all species that have ever lived are now extinct. However, species extinctions are occurring 1,000 to 10,000 times faster than scientists think.
IUCN has maintained a "red list" of endangered species since 1964. More than 142,000 species have been assessed, and 29% are classified as vulnerable, meaning they face a very high risk of extinction.
Which countries are trying to reach a deal in China?
We hope an agreement can be reached to stop what scientists are calling the "sixth mass extinction." Then, the government will try to agree on a long-term action plan called the post-2020 biodiversity framework. The ultimate goal is to slow biodiversity loss by 2030 and ensure that by 2050, biodiversity is "assessed, conserved, restored ... and brings significant benefits to all".
What are the biggest threats to biodiversity?
In 2019, a United Nations report said mining, logging, hunting, and fishing had an impact. Between 2001 and 2020, 411 million hectares of forest area were lost worldwide - 16% of which was primary forest. This is an ancient forest that took hundreds of years to develop. The destruction of this rich environment can have severe impacts on biodiversity.
Biodiversity loss is happening worldwide, but the Natural History Museum in London has found that Malta, Britain, Brazil, and Australia have seen the most significant changes - due to pollution, rapid industrialization, and overuse of water.