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Preserving Biodiversity and its Importance
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Background
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September 2001
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A massive
extinction unparalleled since the age of the dinosaurs is
now underway. Species that will never exist again are
being lost at an alarming rate. The IUCN-World
Conservation Union's 1996 IUCN Red List of
Threatened Animals reports that even though they track
only a small portion of Earth's species the number of
those that are endangered is astounding: it amounts to one
in every four vertebrate species. Why is this happening?
And, what does it mean for human life?
Ecosystems, such as coral reefs, wetlands and
tropical rainforests, form the complex web of life on
earth. A healthy ecosystem is biologically diverse and
better able to withstand shocks and stresses from climate
change, pollution or rapid resource extraction. But many
are experiencing intense stress and are in danger of
collapse from increased resource extraction and waste
generation. According to the WorldWatch Institute the main
cause of species decline and ecosystem stress is habitat
loss because of human activity deforestation, large dam
construction and so on with over-exploitation of species
being the second. The danger to human life is very real:
as species and ecosystems decline, the resources that
sustain human life are lost.
Meanwhile human systems’ institutions, policies
and activities cannot change fast enough to stop the
destruction. Past conservation efforts have not been
effective enough. And it is still too soon to tell if
efforts such as the recently negotiated Convention on
Biological Diversity, which started an international
process and forum for decisions about biodiversity, will
be sufficient. Clearly action is needed on several fronts.
Some organizations such as the United National Environment
Programme are turning their attention to the consequences
of trade on the world's biodiversity while many
environmental organizations are monitoring species loss,
building public awareness and campaigning for sustainable
policies.
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Biodiversity Menu
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Assessment
Achievement Task
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Go to this site if you are interested in
reading more - www.worldwatch.org
The tiny Agalychnis callidryas, red-eyed
tree frog.
Photo by Amy Snyder
[source: Exploratorium]
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