Protect Biodiversity and Wildlife Corridors
Biological diversity is the variety of life on Earth and the natural patterns it forms. The biodiversity seen today is the result of 4.5 billion years of evolution and, increasingly, of human influence as well. It forms the web of life, of which humans are integral and upon which people and the planet so fully depend. Species are now disappearing hundreds, or even thousands, of times faster than the natural background rate of extinction. The scientific community has repeatedly sounded the alarm on the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste. [1]
Wildlife corridors are pathways of land, water, and air that serve as natural highways for animals. Corridors vary in size and can span thousands of miles. They are crucial for the survival of many species. However, humans have disrupted many of these age-old natural highways with roads, agriculture, and development. This fragmentation undermines ecosystem integrity and prevents animal migration in response to climate stress. Existing corridors need to be protected, old ones restored, and new corridors established in order to protect species, rewild ecosystems, restore degraded land, and support local livelihoods.
importance of biodiversity
Biodiversity forms the web of life that we depend on for so many things – food, water, medicine, a stable climate, economic growth, among others. [2]
The Earth’s land and the ocean serve as natural carbon sinks, absorbing large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. Conserving and restoring natural spaces, and the biodiversity they contain, is essential for limiting emissions and adapting to climate impacts. [2]
Protecting, managing, and restoring forests, for example, offers roughly two-thirds of the total mitigation potential of all nature-based solutions. Despite massive and ongoing losses, forests still cover more than 30 per cent of the planet’s land. [2]
Pollinators are birds, bats, bees, butterflies, wasps, beetles, and other animals that travel from plant to plant transferring pollen, a process necessary for 88 percent of flowering plants, proper ecosystem functioning, and our food system. Despite their importance, over 40 percent of pollinators species are threatened with extinction. Habitat loss, pesticides, and pollution are among the main drivers of their decline.
Ocean habitats such as seagrasses and mangroves can also sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere at rates up to four times higher than terrestrial forests can. Their ability to capture and store carbon make mangroves highly valuable in the fight against climate change. [2]
Conserving and restoring natural spaces, both on land and in the water, is essential for limiting carbon emissions and adapting to an already changing climate. About one-third of the greenhouse gas emissions reductions needed in the next decade could be achieved by improving nature’s ability to absorb emissions. [2]
impacts of CLIMATE CHANGE
The main driver of biodiversity loss remains humans’ use of land – primarily for food production. Human activity has already altered over 70 per cent of all ice-free land. When land is converted for agriculture, some animal and plant species may lose their habitat and face extinction. [2]
Climate change and biodiversity loss (as well as pollution) are part of an interlinked triple planetary crisis the world is facing today. [2]
Climate change has altered marine, terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems all around the world causing species losses, increases in disease and mass mortality events of plants and animals. This is resulting in the first climate-driven extinctions, ecosystem restructuring, increases in areas burned by wildfire, and declines in key ecosystem services. [3]
Extreme climate events are occurring on all continents, with severe impacts to species unable to adapt with the most severe impacts happening in climate-sensitive ecosystems. Local population extinctions caused by climate change have been widespread among plants and animals, detected in 47% of 976 species examined and associated with increases in the hottest yearly temperatures. [3]
At warming levels beyond 2°C by 2100, risks of extirpation, extinction, and ecosystem collapse escalate rapidly. Impacts on ocean and coastal ecosystems will be exacerbated by increases in intensity, reoccurrence and duration of marine heatwaves, in some cases, leading to species extirpation, habitat collapse or surpassing ecological tipping points [3].
how to PROTECT biodiversity
Stop burning fossil fuels and putting excess greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.
Get involved with organizations working to protect, restore, and provide education about watersheds and forest systems in your local community.
Vote for political leaders who value biodiversity and support restoration and protection efforts for lands and waters.
Support resource managers, planners, and conservation groups to protect and restore ecosystems. This builds ecosystem resilience and results in multiple-benefits.
Help protect pollinators. Pollinating animals account for nearly 350,000 species globally. They are essential for the health of ecosystems. They pollinate many food crops and support a wide variety of culturally important practices from medicinal plants to dyes. However, many pollinators are facing high extinction rates globally. The crisis is especially acute for insects. One in four species of native bees in North America face extinction, and monarch butterflies have declined by 85 percent in the last twenty years. [4]
References:
United Nations Environment Programme, Biodiversity, www.unep.org/unep-and-biodiversityUnited Nations, Biodiversity - our strongest natural defense against climate change, www.un.org/en/climatechange/science/climate-issues/biodiversityIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Fact sheet - Biodiversity. www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/downloads/outreach/IPCC_AR6_WGII_FactSheet_Biodiversity.pdfRegeneration, Pollinators, www.regeneration.org/nexus/pollinators
