Essay on Conservation of Biodiversity for Students and Children

500+ words essay on conservation of biodiversity.

Conservation of biodiversity is vital for maintaining the Earth’s environment and sustaining life on the planet. There are a number of ways in which the richness of biodiversity helps in maintaining the ecological system. Conservation of biodiversity is important for the survival of living beings on Earth. Hence, a lot of emphases is being given on the conservation of biodiversity these days.

essay on conservation of biodiversity

The Extinction in Biodiversity

Due to human activities, numerous varieties of animals go extinct each year. Western Black Rhinoceros, Dodo, Tasmanian tiger, Golden Toad, Woolly Mammoth, Caribbean Monk Seal, Ivory-billed Woodpecker, and Japanese Sea Lion are some of the species of animals that have gone extinct.

Lemur, Mountain Gorilla, Vaquita, Sea Turtles, Amur Leopard, and Tiger are some of the species that are on the verge of extinction. Apart from these many species of plants and trees including Lepidodendron, Araucaria Mirabilis, Wood Cycad and Kokia Cookie have gone extinct and many species are endangered.

Need to Conserve Biodiversity

Earth is a beautiful planet which has given us many things which occur naturally. Natural resources, rivers, valleys , oceans, different species of animals and beautiful varieties of plants and trees are among some of these.

In today’s world, we are busy developing our surroundings and spoiling our beautiful environment. Today, we have exploited most of the things that were available abundantly in nature. Thus, there arises a need to conserve these natural things. Among other things, there is a serious need for the conservation of biodiversity.

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Importance of Conservation of Biodiversity

Conservation of biodiversity is important for many reasons. Here are some of the main reasons to conserve biodiversity:

  • Process of Food Chain: Different species of animals and plants serve as the source of food for other animals and living organisms. Thus, conserving biodiversity help to keep the food chain among the living organisms.
  • Nutritional Needs: The decline in the variety of plants and animals would mean the decline in the variety of food we eat. So, this is likely to result in nutritional deficiencies.
  • Cleaner Air: Plants and trees have a greater ability to purify the air and keep the atmosphere clean. As there is a decrease in the number and types of trees and plants, it impacts the quality of air in a negative way.
  • Better Cultivation of Crops:   Fertility of soil is maintained by many insects, organisms and microorganisms work on different levels. So we have to maintain the level of microorganism which is better for the cultivation of crops.
  • For Medical Reason s: For making different medicines many species of trees and plants are used so as to cure various diseases.

Methods to Conserve Biodiversity

Methods that can help in the conservation of biodiversity are

  • Control Population: The greater the population the higher the needs which would result in further exploitation of flora and fauna and decline in biodiversity. For the conservation of biodiversity, we have to control the human population and allow other species of plants and animals to replenish on our planet.
  • Control Pollution: The changing climate, deteriorating air quality and the growing amount of pollution on land and water bodies are leading to different types of diseases in many. It is essential to reduce the activities leading to pollution so as to conserve biodiversity.
  • Reduce Deforestation: Due to deforestation, there is the loss of habitat. Due to this reason, wild animals are unable to survive in the new environment and die.
  • Avoid Wastage: We need to understand that natural resources are not only essential for us but are also vital for the survival of other species. We must thus utilize only as much as we require them so that these remain available in abundance in nature for future use.
  • Spread Awareness: Apart from this, one of the best methods to conserve biodiversity is by spreading awareness. The government can do so at a bigger level. While we can spread awareness by word of mouth and through social media.

Conservation of biodiversity is of utmost importance. We must all make efforts to conserve biodiversity rather than contributing towards its declination. Thus, the richness of biodiversity is essential for the survival of living beings on Earth.

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Essay on Biodiversity in 500 Words for Students

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  • Dec 7, 2023

Essay on Biodiversity

Essay on Biodiversity: Biodiversity refers to the variety of animals and plants in the world or a specific area. Even in today’s modern world where so many technological advances have taken place, we still rely on our natural environment and resources to survive, A healthy and vibrant ecosystem is not disturbed by human activities. We humans are the largest consumers of natural resources, and you know what? We are also a real threat to the natural environment? Biodiversity is not just about a variety of animal and plant species, but, also offers us water, climate, disease control, nutrition cycle, oxygen release, etc. According to one report released by the United Nations, around 10 lakh plant and animal species are on the verge of extinction. The worst thing is that this number is almost at a doubling rate.

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Why is Biodiversity Important?

Biodiversity supports all life forms on earth. To understand the importance of biodiversity, we don’t need to think or act like a biologist. All we need is a holistic understanding. 

  • Biodiversity promotes resilience and stability in our ecosystem. If there is any natural disturbance in the environment, a diverse ecosystem will be able to survive and recover better.
  • Fields like agriculture, forestry, and medicine completely rely on biodiversity. We get genetic resources from biodiversity, which is essential for agriculture and medicine fields.
  • A healthy biodiversity environment means healthy humans. The medicinal drugs we use are derived from plants, animals, and microorganisms.
  • In many parts of the world, biodiversity is an integral part of cultural identity. Indigenous tribes are connected with their natural environment and species. 
  • Forest areas and oceans play an important role in regulating global temperature and storing carbon dioxide.
  • Our environment is constantly changing and the species around it also need to adapt to for to survive. Therefore, genetic diversity within species is also important.
  • Natural activities like soil formation, nutrient cycling, water purification, etc, are all dependent on biodiversity.

Also Read: NCERT Solutions Class 9 Natural Vegetation and Wildlife

What is Biodiversity Loss?

Biodiversity loss means the global extinction of various species, resulting in the loss of biological diversity. One of the main factors responsible for biodiversity loss is the conversion of natural habitats into agricultural and urban areas. Cutting down forests and using the land for commercial activities results in destroying the livelihood of all the species in the region. Other factors responsible for biodiversity loss are listed below.

  • Overexploitation
  • Climate change
  • Global trade and transportation
  • Emerging diseases
  • Pollution 

Also Read: Essay on Save Environment

What is Biodiversity Conservation?

Biodiversity conservation refers to the preservation of species, natural resources, and habitats from the rate of extinction. To achieve the goals of biodiversity conservation, effective management, and sustainable practices are required.

  • Biodiversity conservation includes protected areas like biodiversity hotspots, national parks, and wildlife sanctuaries.
  • One of the most effective ways to conserve biodiversity is rehabilitation and restoring degraded habitats is crucial.
  • Promoting sustainable practices in agriculture, forestry, and other resource-dependent activities is essential for the conservation of biodiversity.
  • Encouraging the participation of local and indigenous communities can be one solution to achieving the goals of biodiversity conservation. Indigenous and local knowledge can contribute to effective conservation strategies.

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Quotes on Biodiversity

Here are some popular quotes on biodiversity. Feel free to add them to your writing topics related to the natural environment.

  • ‘Look closely at nature. Every species is a masterclass, exclusively adapted to the particular environment in which it has survived. Who are we to destroy or even diminish biodiversity?’ – E O Wilson
  • ‘Biodiversity is our most valuable but least appreciated resource.’ – E O Wilson
  • ‘Biodiversity is the greeted treasure we have. It’s diminishment is to be prevented at all cost.’ – Thomas Eisner
  • ‘Animal protection is education to humanity.’ – Albert Schweitzer
  • ‘Only beautiful animals or ugly people wear fur.’ – Unknown
  • ‘Babies and animals are the mirrors of the nature.’ – Epicurus

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Ans: Biodiversity refers to the variety of plants and animals in our natural environment or a particular region. Biodiversity supports all life forms on earth. To understand the importance of biodiversity, we don’t need to think or act like a biologist. All we need is a holistic understanding. Biodiversity promotes resilience and stability in our ecosystem. If there is any natural disturbance in the environment, a diverse ecosystem will be able to survive and recover better. Fields like agriculture, forestry, and medicine completely rely on biodiversity. We get genetic resources from biodiversity, which is essential for agriculture and medicine fields.

Ans: Biodiversity conservation refers to the preservation of species, natural resources, and habitats from the rate of extinction. To achieve the goals of biodiversity conservation, effective management, and sustainable practices are required.

Ans: Some of the popular biodiversity hotspots in India are the Himalayas, Indo-Burma, Western Ghats & Sundaland.

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Biodiversity 101: Why it matters and how to protect it

  • May 21, 2020

The Earth is undergoing a mass extinction that could see up to a million species disappear in the coming decades – and humans are contributing heavily to this.

The numbers are staggering: the population sizes of vertebrate species, which include mammals, reptiles, birds and fish, dropped by around half between 1970 and 2010 . A quarter of mammals, 40 percent of amphibians, and 30 percent of sharks and rays are currently endangered .

During the 20th century, extinction rates were about 100 times higher than they would have been without humans significantly altering most of the planet’s surface .

What does this loss of biodiversity mean for the future of the planet and its inhabitants – and what can we do about it? The first step is understanding the basics, unraveled in easy-to-digest terms here in this explainer:

What is biodiversity?

How is biodiversity measured, what are the benefits of biodiversity, what are the main threats to biodiversity, how can we protect biodiversity.

Rhinerrhiza divitiflora, also known as the Raspy Root Orchid. cskk, Flickr

Coined by biologists in the 1980s as a contraction of biological diversity , the term usually refers to the variety of life on Earth as a whole . The U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) breaks it down as follows :

“Biological diversity” means the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part.

But the CBD makes it clear that measuring biodiversity is no simple feat:

This includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.

Let’s start with biodiversity between species, or species diversity . Arguably the simplest measure is ‘species richness’ – a count of how many species live in a community.

But species richness does not consider the relative abundance of each species, or its importance to an ecosystem or landscape, or its value to people. As such, biologists have invented diversity indices, such as the Simpson index and the Shannon index , to take these factors into account.

When talking about biodiversity loss, we often focus on losses in species diversity, as it is crucial to maintain the balance of ecosystems, nutritional value of food, and enhance resilience of ecosystems and landscapes to the threats of climate change and other risks like weeds and pests.

Yet genetic diversity – the characteristics of a species’ genetic makeup – is equally important, as it ensures resilience to change and stressors on a more individual level.

Consider the following analogy: in investing, a diversified portfolio minimizes risk and usually provides the most reliable returns. Likewise, genetic diversity protects a species from being wiped out by an external shock like a natural disaster or disease outbreak.

At the largest scale is the concept of ecosystem diversity , which measures how many different ecosystems exist within a geographical area or wider landscape. The more ecosystems exist within a landscape, the more resilient that landscape is, and the more services it has to offer its inhabitants. 

These include wetlands , which contain over 40 percent of the value of the world’s ecosystems ; peatlands , which store a third of the planet’s soil carbon; and lesser-known tropical forests such as monsoon and karst forests , which are among our best natural defenses against climate change.

You might have also heard of ‘biodiversity hotspots.’ These are landscapes with exceptionally high concentrations of biodiversity. 43 percent of bird, mammal, reptile and amphibian species are only found in areas that make up just 2.4 percent of the Earth’s surface .

Why is biodiversity important?

Healthy and functional ecosystems play a crucial role in sustaining human livelihoods through providing necessities and benefits such as food, water, energy sources and carbon sequestration, known as ‘ecosystem services.’

One study estimates that each year, the goods and services provided by the planet’s ecosystems contribute over USD 100 trillion to the global economy , more than double the world’s gross domestic product (GDP). But much debate remains over how to factor in non-monetary values, such as natural beauty, regulating functions, and providing homes for humans and animals.

Underpinning ecosystem services are genetic diversity and biodiversity. Genetic diversity supports agriculture by building resilience and protecting against environmental stresses such as pests, crop diseases and natural disasters . This provides a source of income and safeguards the food security of much of the world’s poor.

Biodiversity also plays a role in some ‘ nature-based solutions ’ to climate change and problems caused by changes in the environment. These solutions could provide up to a third of the carbon emissions reductions needed to meet the Paris Agreement goals .

Including biodiversity in nature-based solutions, though, must be a conscious choice. Tree planting , for instance, can come in the form of monocultures (planting just a single species in a landscape) or agroforestry, which mixes species of agricultural crops and trees in a single landscape to enhance the sustainability of both.

While each of these cases offers a different set of financial and environmental benefits, most experts will sing the praises of nature-based solutions that take into account biodiversity over those that don’t.

And, let us not forget: the planet’s various ecosystems and landscapes also hold considerable intrinsic value to humans, whether for their recreational opportunities, their cultural importance to Indigenous communities , or their contributions to physical and mental health . Without biodiversity, these values will be lost.

A pool of Spoonbills. Craig ONeal, Flickr

In a seminal report published last year, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) identified five direct drivers of biodiversity loss: changes in land and sea use, overexploitation, climate change, pollution, and invasive species.

These five drivers, it argues , are in turn driven by increasing demand for natural resources, as well as governance structures that prioritize economic growth over conservation and restoration.

Land and sea use

The most widespread form of land-use change has been the expansion of agriculture : according to the IPBES report, over a third of the Earth’s land surface is now used for cropping or livestock, mainly at the expense of forests , wetlands and grasslands.

The tropics , which are home to the highest levels of biodiversity on Earth, are now seeing their ecosystems replaced by cattle ranching in Latin America and plantations in Southeast Asia .

Other key land-use changes include logging, mining and urbanization. Coastal and marine ecosystems have also been significantly affected by activities such as offshore aquaculture, bottom trawling, coastal development and ocean mining .

Overexploitation

The IPBES suggests that fishing has had a larger impact on marine ecosystems than any other human activity: 33 percent of marine fish stocks are currently overfished, and 60 percent are being fished to their sustainable limits. Poaching and hunting , too, are driving many mammals to the brink of extinction.

Climate change

Humans have caused the planet to warm by around 1 degree Celsius since pre-industrial times – and biodiversity is already bearing the brunt of that warming. Climate change is reducing the distribution of many species (the geographical area in which they can survive), including almost half of all endangered mammals.

Changes in the ecological balance can also result in species that can beneficial turning into pests and plagues once their natural enemies are reduced or disappear: think locusts, mosquitos, algae.

Many plants and animals are also experiencing disruptions to their phenology , which refers to seasonal life cycle events such as flowering, migration and hibernation.

Mining, agriculture, industry and other pervasive changes in human’s land-use are contributing to air, water and soil pollution. The IPBES notes that coastal waters contain the highest levels of metals and organic pollutants, such as industrial discharge and fertilizers.

Similarly, marine plastic pollution has increased tenfold since 1980, primarily affecting marine turtles, seabirds and marine mammals, as well as humans indirectly through the food chain.

Invasive species

An invasive alien species is a species that has been introduced to a new location and starts to disrupt its new habitat. These species can threaten native biodiversity by out-competing them for resources, and they’re spreading ever more quickly as international travel and trade expands. A recent study found that one-sixth of the Earth’s land surface is highly vulnerable to invasion , including many biodiversity hotspots.

The underwater landscape at Beveridge Reef, Niue. Vlad Sokhin, UNDP

Humanity’s ecological footprint is about 70 percent larger than the planet can sustain – and in the world’s richest countries, that figure is as much as four or five times larger. Given these huge inequalities in both living standards and ecological impact, residents of industrialized nations can – and should – do their part to preserve biodiversity by helping contribute to more sustainable global systems.

At the individual level, that could include reducing air travel, buying organic , eating less red meat, avoiding fast fashion , and turning your backyard into a carbon sink .

At the international and policy level , we need commitments to restore the Earth’s ecosystems , following the examples set by the Everglades and farmers in the African Sahel .

Indigenous and local communities are deep and rich sources of traditional knowledge of how best to care for increasingly fragile landscapes. Technological innovation is a crucial tool too.

And with biodiversity worth more in monetary terms than the entire global economy , there’s a clear business case to be made for investing in restoring the planet .

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protecting biodiversity essay

The term "biodiversity" is used to describe the variety of plants, animals, and other species found in an environment. All of them have a significant impact on preserving the planet's healthy ecosystem. In order to sustain the health of the ecosystem and human life, it is critical to maintain a high degree of biodiversity.

However, maintaining biodiversity is getting more challenging due to the increasing air, water, and land pollution on our planet. A number of plant and animal species have gone extinct as a result of the quick environmental changes brought on by the aforementioned causes of biodiversity loss.

By encouraging individuals to adopt more environmentally friendly behaviours and practises and to build a more peaceful and sympathetic relationship with the environment, it is possible to preserve biodiversity.

‘Bio’, which stands for life, and ‘diversity’, which means variety, make up the phrase "biodiversity." The diversity of life on Earth is referred to as biodiversity. Living species include all types of plants, animals, microorganisms, and fungus.

Benefits Of Biodiversity

Community engagement to protect biodiversity is crucial. Biodiversity has several economic advantages.

Many parts of the world benefit economically from biodiversity. The tourism and recreation industries are facilitated by biodiversity. National Parks and Natural Reserves gain a lot from it.

The best locations for ecotourism, photography, art, cinematography, and literary works are in forests, animal reserves, and sanctuaries.

Biodiversity is essential for maintaining the gaseous composition of the atmosphere, breaking down waste, and removing contaminants.

Biodiversity helps in improving soil quality.

Types Of Biodiversity

Genetic Biodiversity | Genetic diversity refers to the variance in genes and genotypes within a species, such as how each individual human differs from the others in appearance.

Species Biodiversity | The variety of species found in a habitat or an area is known as species diversity. It is the diversity of life that is seen in a community. Ecosystem Biodiversity | The diversity of plant and animal species that coexist and are linked by food webs and food chains is referred to as ecological biodiversity.

The biological diversity of many plants and animals is essential to everything. However, biodiversity is declining daily for a number of causes. Our planet could no longer be a place to live if it doesn't stop. Thus, several strategies help in boosting the earth's biodiversity. The three main threats to biodiversity today are habitat loss, hunting, and poaching. At an alarming rate, humans are destroying forests, grasslands, reefs and other natural areas.

Hundreds of species that live in these habitats are therefore vanishing every year. Due to population decline caused by illegal hunting and poaching, several species are put under even more stress.

Importance Of Biodiversity

Maintaining biodiversity is crucial for the health of the ecological system. Many species of plants and animals are dependent on each other. As a result, if one becomes extinct, the others will begin to become vulnerable. Additionally, as both plants and animals are necessary for human existence, it is crucial for us as well. For instance, in order to exist, humans require food, which we obtain from plants. We cannot produce any crops if the soil does not provide a conducive climate. As a result, we won't be able to live sustainably on this planet.

Biodiversity in both flora and fauna is essential today. Therefore, to prevent the decrease in species in danger, we need to implement a number of interventions. Furthermore, vehicle pollution should decrease. So that both humans and animals can get fresh air to breathe. Moreover, it will also decrease global warming which is the major cause of the extinction of the species.

How To Preserve Biodiversity

The basic goal of biodiversity conservation is to protect life on earth, all species, the ecosystem, and a healthy environment for all time so that it will continue to be healthy for future generations. The maintenance of the food chain, the provision of a healthy habitat for many animals, including people, and the promotion of our sustainable development all depend heavily on biodiversity conservation.

Here are some ways you can preserve biodiversity:

Set Up Gardens | The simplest approach to increase biodiversity is to build gardens inside of homes. In the yard or even on the balcony, you may grow a variety of plants. Additionally, this would contribute to bringing in more fresh air within the house.

Plant Local Flowers, Fruits And Vegetables | Plant a variety in your backyard or a hanging garden using the native plants, fruits, and vegetables of your region. Nurseries are excellent places to learn about caring for and preserving plants.

3 R’s | Reduce your consumption, reuse what you can, recycle before throwing away.

Since humans consume the majority of biodiversity resources, it is primarily their duty to maintain and safeguard biodiversity in order to save the environment. The diversity of species, the health of the ecosystem, the state of the environment, and the continued viability of life on earth are crucial. By maintaining and safeguarding species, ecosystems, and natural resources, biodiversity conservation can be achieved for the sustainability of a healthy planet. Some rare species can be saved with the help of law enforcement.

All living species are interconnected and can be negatively impacted by one disturbance and therefore maintaining biodiversity is crucial for human survival. Inadequate biodiversity protection puts human life, as well as the lives of plants, animals, and the environment, at danger. As a result, we must make every effort to preserve our biodiversity.

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Environmental Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as an environmental engineer are construction professionals who utilise the skills and knowledge of biology, soil science, chemistry and the concept of engineering to design and develop projects that serve as solutions to various environmental problems. 

Safety Manager

A Safety Manager is a professional responsible for employee’s safety at work. He or she plans, implements and oversees the company’s employee safety. A Safety Manager ensures compliance and adherence to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) guidelines.

Conservation Architect

A Conservation Architect is a professional responsible for conserving and restoring buildings or monuments having a historic value. He or she applies techniques to document and stabilise the object’s state without any further damage. A Conservation Architect restores the monuments and heritage buildings to bring them back to their original state.

Structural Engineer

A Structural Engineer designs buildings, bridges, and other related structures. He or she analyzes the structures and makes sure the structures are strong enough to be used by the people. A career as a Structural Engineer requires working in the construction process. It comes under the civil engineering discipline. A Structure Engineer creates structural models with the help of computer-aided design software. 

Highway Engineer

Highway Engineer Job Description:  A Highway Engineer is a civil engineer who specialises in planning and building thousands of miles of roads that support connectivity and allow transportation across the country. He or she ensures that traffic management schemes are effectively planned concerning economic sustainability and successful implementation.

Field Surveyor

Are you searching for a Field Surveyor Job Description? A Field Surveyor is a professional responsible for conducting field surveys for various places or geographical conditions. He or she collects the required data and information as per the instructions given by senior officials. 

Orthotist and Prosthetist

Orthotists and Prosthetists are professionals who provide aid to patients with disabilities. They fix them to artificial limbs (prosthetics) and help them to regain stability. There are times when people lose their limbs in an accident. In some other occasions, they are born without a limb or orthopaedic impairment. Orthotists and prosthetists play a crucial role in their lives with fixing them to assistive devices and provide mobility.

Pathologist

A career in pathology in India is filled with several responsibilities as it is a medical branch and affects human lives. The demand for pathologists has been increasing over the past few years as people are getting more aware of different diseases. Not only that, but an increase in population and lifestyle changes have also contributed to the increase in a pathologist’s demand. The pathology careers provide an extremely huge number of opportunities and if you want to be a part of the medical field you can consider being a pathologist. If you want to know more about a career in pathology in India then continue reading this article.

Veterinary Doctor

Speech therapist, gynaecologist.

Gynaecology can be defined as the study of the female body. The job outlook for gynaecology is excellent since there is evergreen demand for one because of their responsibility of dealing with not only women’s health but also fertility and pregnancy issues. Although most women prefer to have a women obstetrician gynaecologist as their doctor, men also explore a career as a gynaecologist and there are ample amounts of male doctors in the field who are gynaecologists and aid women during delivery and childbirth. 

Audiologist

The audiologist career involves audiology professionals who are responsible to treat hearing loss and proactively preventing the relevant damage. Individuals who opt for a career as an audiologist use various testing strategies with the aim to determine if someone has a normal sensitivity to sounds or not. After the identification of hearing loss, a hearing doctor is required to determine which sections of the hearing are affected, to what extent they are affected, and where the wound causing the hearing loss is found. As soon as the hearing loss is identified, the patients are provided with recommendations for interventions and rehabilitation such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, and appropriate medical referrals. While audiology is a branch of science that studies and researches hearing, balance, and related disorders.

An oncologist is a specialised doctor responsible for providing medical care to patients diagnosed with cancer. He or she uses several therapies to control the cancer and its effect on the human body such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation therapy and biopsy. An oncologist designs a treatment plan based on a pathology report after diagnosing the type of cancer and where it is spreading inside the body.

Are you searching for an ‘Anatomist job description’? An Anatomist is a research professional who applies the laws of biological science to determine the ability of bodies of various living organisms including animals and humans to regenerate the damaged or destroyed organs. If you want to know what does an anatomist do, then read the entire article, where we will answer all your questions.

For an individual who opts for a career as an actor, the primary responsibility is to completely speak to the character he or she is playing and to persuade the crowd that the character is genuine by connecting with them and bringing them into the story. This applies to significant roles and littler parts, as all roles join to make an effective creation. Here in this article, we will discuss how to become an actor in India, actor exams, actor salary in India, and actor jobs. 

Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats create and direct original routines for themselves, in addition to developing interpretations of existing routines. The work of circus acrobats can be seen in a variety of performance settings, including circus, reality shows, sports events like the Olympics, movies and commercials. Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats must be prepared to face rejections and intermittent periods of work. The creativity of acrobats may extend to other aspects of the performance. For example, acrobats in the circus may work with gym trainers, celebrities or collaborate with other professionals to enhance such performance elements as costume and or maybe at the teaching end of the career.

Video Game Designer

Career as a video game designer is filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. A video game designer is someone who is involved in the process of creating a game from day one. He or she is responsible for fulfilling duties like designing the character of the game, the several levels involved, plot, art and similar other elements. Individuals who opt for a career as a video game designer may also write the codes for the game using different programming languages.

Depending on the video game designer job description and experience they may also have to lead a team and do the early testing of the game in order to suggest changes and find loopholes.

Radio Jockey

Radio Jockey is an exciting, promising career and a great challenge for music lovers. If you are really interested in a career as radio jockey, then it is very important for an RJ to have an automatic, fun, and friendly personality. If you want to get a job done in this field, a strong command of the language and a good voice are always good things. Apart from this, in order to be a good radio jockey, you will also listen to good radio jockeys so that you can understand their style and later make your own by practicing.

A career as radio jockey has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. If you want to know more about a career as radio jockey, and how to become a radio jockey then continue reading the article.

Choreographer

The word “choreography" actually comes from Greek words that mean “dance writing." Individuals who opt for a career as a choreographer create and direct original dances, in addition to developing interpretations of existing dances. A Choreographer dances and utilises his or her creativity in other aspects of dance performance. For example, he or she may work with the music director to select music or collaborate with other famous choreographers to enhance such performance elements as lighting, costume and set design.

Social Media Manager

A career as social media manager involves implementing the company’s or brand’s marketing plan across all social media channels. Social media managers help in building or improving a brand’s or a company’s website traffic, build brand awareness, create and implement marketing and brand strategy. Social media managers are key to important social communication as well.

Photographer

Photography is considered both a science and an art, an artistic means of expression in which the camera replaces the pen. In a career as a photographer, an individual is hired to capture the moments of public and private events, such as press conferences or weddings, or may also work inside a studio, where people go to get their picture clicked. Photography is divided into many streams each generating numerous career opportunities in photography. With the boom in advertising, media, and the fashion industry, photography has emerged as a lucrative and thrilling career option for many Indian youths.

An individual who is pursuing a career as a producer is responsible for managing the business aspects of production. They are involved in each aspect of production from its inception to deception. Famous movie producers review the script, recommend changes and visualise the story. 

They are responsible for overseeing the finance involved in the project and distributing the film for broadcasting on various platforms. A career as a producer is quite fulfilling as well as exhaustive in terms of playing different roles in order for a production to be successful. Famous movie producers are responsible for hiring creative and technical personnel on contract basis.

Copy Writer

In a career as a copywriter, one has to consult with the client and understand the brief well. A career as a copywriter has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. Several new mediums of advertising are opening therefore making it a lucrative career choice. Students can pursue various copywriter courses such as Journalism , Advertising , Marketing Management . Here, we have discussed how to become a freelance copywriter, copywriter career path, how to become a copywriter in India, and copywriting career outlook. 

In a career as a vlogger, one generally works for himself or herself. However, once an individual has gained viewership there are several brands and companies that approach them for paid collaboration. It is one of those fields where an individual can earn well while following his or her passion. 

Ever since internet costs got reduced the viewership for these types of content has increased on a large scale. Therefore, a career as a vlogger has a lot to offer. If you want to know more about the Vlogger eligibility, roles and responsibilities then continue reading the article. 

For publishing books, newspapers, magazines and digital material, editorial and commercial strategies are set by publishers. Individuals in publishing career paths make choices about the markets their businesses will reach and the type of content that their audience will be served. Individuals in book publisher careers collaborate with editorial staff, designers, authors, and freelance contributors who develop and manage the creation of content.

Careers in journalism are filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. One cannot afford to miss out on the details. As it is the small details that provide insights into a story. Depending on those insights a journalist goes about writing a news article. A journalism career can be stressful at times but if you are someone who is passionate about it then it is the right choice for you. If you want to know more about the media field and journalist career then continue reading this article.

Individuals in the editor career path is an unsung hero of the news industry who polishes the language of the news stories provided by stringers, reporters, copywriters and content writers and also news agencies. Individuals who opt for a career as an editor make it more persuasive, concise and clear for readers. In this article, we will discuss the details of the editor's career path such as how to become an editor in India, editor salary in India and editor skills and qualities.

Individuals who opt for a career as a reporter may often be at work on national holidays and festivities. He or she pitches various story ideas and covers news stories in risky situations. Students can pursue a BMC (Bachelor of Mass Communication) , B.M.M. (Bachelor of Mass Media) , or  MAJMC (MA in Journalism and Mass Communication) to become a reporter. While we sit at home reporters travel to locations to collect information that carries a news value.  

Corporate Executive

Are you searching for a Corporate Executive job description? A Corporate Executive role comes with administrative duties. He or she provides support to the leadership of the organisation. A Corporate Executive fulfils the business purpose and ensures its financial stability. In this article, we are going to discuss how to become corporate executive.

Multimedia Specialist

A multimedia specialist is a media professional who creates, audio, videos, graphic image files, computer animations for multimedia applications. He or she is responsible for planning, producing, and maintaining websites and applications. 

Quality Controller

A quality controller plays a crucial role in an organisation. He or she is responsible for performing quality checks on manufactured products. He or she identifies the defects in a product and rejects the product. 

A quality controller records detailed information about products with defects and sends it to the supervisor or plant manager to take necessary actions to improve the production process.

Production Manager

A QA Lead is in charge of the QA Team. The role of QA Lead comes with the responsibility of assessing services and products in order to determine that he or she meets the quality standards. He or she develops, implements and manages test plans. 

Process Development Engineer

The Process Development Engineers design, implement, manufacture, mine, and other production systems using technical knowledge and expertise in the industry. They use computer modeling software to test technologies and machinery. An individual who is opting career as Process Development Engineer is responsible for developing cost-effective and efficient processes. They also monitor the production process and ensure it functions smoothly and efficiently.

AWS Solution Architect

An AWS Solution Architect is someone who specializes in developing and implementing cloud computing systems. He or she has a good understanding of the various aspects of cloud computing and can confidently deploy and manage their systems. He or she troubleshoots the issues and evaluates the risk from the third party. 

Azure Administrator

An Azure Administrator is a professional responsible for implementing, monitoring, and maintaining Azure Solutions. He or she manages cloud infrastructure service instances and various cloud servers as well as sets up public and private cloud systems. 

Computer Programmer

Careers in computer programming primarily refer to the systematic act of writing code and moreover include wider computer science areas. The word 'programmer' or 'coder' has entered into practice with the growing number of newly self-taught tech enthusiasts. Computer programming careers involve the use of designs created by software developers and engineers and transforming them into commands that can be implemented by computers. These commands result in regular usage of social media sites, word-processing applications and browsers.

Information Security Manager

Individuals in the information security manager career path involves in overseeing and controlling all aspects of computer security. The IT security manager job description includes planning and carrying out security measures to protect the business data and information from corruption, theft, unauthorised access, and deliberate attack 

ITSM Manager

Automation test engineer.

An Automation Test Engineer job involves executing automated test scripts. He or she identifies the project’s problems and troubleshoots them. The role involves documenting the defect using management tools. He or she works with the application team in order to resolve any issues arising during the testing process. 

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Conservation

In defense of biodiversity: why protecting species from extinction matters.

By Carl Safina • February 12, 2018

A number of biologists have recently made the argument that extinction is part of evolution and that saving species need not be a conservation priority. But this revisionist thinking shows a lack of understanding of evolution and an ignorance of the natural world. 

A few years ago, I helped lead a ship-based expedition along south Alaska during which several scientists and noted artists documented and made art from the voluminous plastic trash that washes ashore even there. At Katmai National Park, we packed off several tons of trash from as distant as South Asia. But what made Katmai most memorable was: huge brown bears. Mothers and cubs were out on the flats digging clams. Others were snoozing on dunes. Others were patrolling.

During a rest, several of us were sitting on an enormous drift-log, watching one mother who’d been clamming with three cubs. As the tide flooded the flat, we watched in disbelief as she brought her cubs up to where we were sitting — and stepped up on the log we were on. There was no aggression, no tension; she was relaxed. We gave her some room as she paused on the log, and then she took her cubs past us into a sedge meadow. Because she was so calm, I felt no fear. I felt the gift.

In this protected refuge, bears could afford a generous view of humans. Whoever protected this land certainly had my gratitude.

In the early 20th century, a botanist named Robert F. Griggs discovered Katmai’s volcanic “Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes.” In love with the area, he spearheaded efforts to preserve the region’s wonders and wildlife. In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson established Katmai National Monument (now Katmai National Park and Preserve ), protecting 1,700 square miles, thus ensuring a home for bear cubs born a century later, and making possible my indelible experience that day. As a legacy for Griggs’ proclivity to share his love of living things, George Washington University later established the Robert F. Griggs Chair in Biology.

That chair is now occupied by a young professor whose recent writing probably has Griggs spinning in his grave. He is R. Alexander Pyron . A few months ago,  The Washington Post published a “ Perspective” piece by Pyron that is an extreme example of a growing minority opinion in the conservation community, one that might be summarized as, “Humans are profoundly altering the planet, so let’s just make peace with the degradation of the natural world.” 

No biologist is entitled to butcher the scientific fundamentals on which they hang their opinions.

Pyron’s essay – with lines such as, “The only reason we should conserve biodiversity is for ourselves, to create a stable future for human beings” and “[T]he impulse to conserve for conservation’s sake has taken on an unthinking, unsupported, unnecessary urgency” – left the impression that it was written in a conservative think tank, perhaps by one of the anti-regulatory zealots now filling posts throughout the Trump administration. Pyron’s sentiments weren’t merely oddly out of keeping with the legacy of the man whose name graces his job title. Much of what Pyron wrote is scientifically inaccurate. And where he stepped out of his field into ethics, what he wrote was conceptually confused.

Pyron has since posted, on his website and Facebook page, 1,100 words of frantic backpedaling that land somewhere between apology and retraction, including mea culpas that he “sensationalized” parts of his own argument and “cavalierly glossed over several complex issues.” But Pyron’s original essay and his muddled apology do not change the fact that the beliefs he expressed reflect a disturbing trend that has taken hold among segments of the conservation community. And his article comes at a time when conservation is being assailed from other quarters, with a half-century of federal protections of land being rolled back, the Endangered Species Act now more endangered than ever, and the relationship between extinction and evolution being subjected to confused, book-length mistreatment.

Pyron’s original opinion piece, so clear and unequivocal in its assertions, is a good place to unpack and disentangle accelerating misconceptions about the “desirability” of extinction that are starting to pop up like hallucinogenic mushrooms.

In recent years, some biologists and writers have been distancing themselves from conservation’s bedrock idea that in an increasingly human-dominated world we must find ways to protect and perpetuate natural beauty, wild places, and the living endowment of the planet. In their stead, we are offered visions of human-dominated landscapes in which the stresses of destruction and fragmentation spur evolution. 

White rhinoceros ( Ceratotherium simum ). Source: Herman Pijpers/ Flickr

Conservation International ditched its exuberant tropical forest graphic for  a new corporate logo  whose circle and line were designed to suggest a human head and outstretched arms. A few years ago, Peter Kareiva, then chief scientist for The Nature Conservancy,  said , “conservationists will have to jettison their idealized notions of nature, parks, and wilderness,” for  “a more optimistic, human-friendly vision.” Human annihilation of the passenger pigeon, he wrote, caused “no catastrophic or even measurable effects,” characterizing the total extinction of the hemisphere’s most abundant bird — whose population went from billions to zero inside a century (certainly a “measurable effect” in itself) — as an example of nature’s “resilience.”

British ecologist Chris Thomas’s recent book, Inheritors of the Earth: How Nature is Thriving in an Age of Extinction, argues that the destruction of nature creates opportunities for evolution of new lifeforms that counterbalance any losses we create, an idea that is certainly optimistic considering the burgeoning lists of endangered species. Are we really ready to consider that disappearing rhinos are somehow counterbalanced by a new subspecies of daisy in a railroad track? Maybe it would be simpler if Thomas and his comrades just said, “We don’t care about nature.’’

Enter Pyron, who — at least in his initial essay — basically said he doesn’t. He’s entitled to his apathy, but no biologist is entitled to butcher the scientific fundamentals on which they hang their opinions.

Pyron began with a resonant story about his nocturnal rediscovery of a South American frog that had been thought recently extinct. He and colleagues collected several that, he reassured us, “are now breeding safely in captivity.” As we breathed a sigh of relief, Pyron added, “But they will go extinct one day, and the world will be none the poorer for it.” 

The conviction that today’s slides toward mass extinction are not inevitable spurred the founding of the conservation movement.

I happen to be writing this in the Peruvian Amazon, having just returned from a night walk to a light-trap where I helped a biologist collect moths. No one yet knows how many species live here. Moths are important pollinators. Knowing them helps detangle a little bit of how this rainforest works. So it’s a good night to mention that the number of species in an area carries the technical term “species richness.” More is richer, and fewer is, indeed, poorer. Pyron’s view lies outside scientific consensus and societal values. 

Pyron wasn’t concerned about his frogs going extinct, because, “Eventually, they will be replaced by a dozen or a hundred new species that evolve later.” But the timescale would be millennia at best — meaningless in human terms — and perhaps never; hundreds of amphibians worldwide are suffering declines and extinctions, raising the possibility that major lineages and whole groups of species will vanish. Pyron seemed to have no concerns about that possibility, writing, “Mass extinctions periodically wipe out up to 95 percent of all species in one fell swoop; these come every 50 million to 100 million years.”

But that’s misleading. “Periodically” implies regularity. There’s no regularity to mass extinctions. Not in their timing, nor in their causes. The mass extinctions are not related. Three causes of mass extinctions — prolonged worldwide atmosphere-altering volcanic eruptions; a dinosaur-snuffing asteroid hit; and the spreading agriculture, settlement, and sheer human appetite driving extinctions today — are unrelated.

Rio Pescado stubfoot toad ( Atelopus balios ). Source: De Investigación y Conservación de Anfibios/ Flickr

The conviction that today’s slides toward mass extinction are not inevitable, and could be lessened or avoided, spurred the founding of the conservation movement and created the discipline of conservation biology.

But Pyron seems unmoved. “Extinction is the engine of evolution, the mechanism by which natural selection prunes the poorly adapted and allows the hardiest to flourish,” he declared. “Species constantly go extinct, and every species that is alive today will one day follow suit. There is no such thing as an ‘endangered species,’ except for all species.”

Let us unpack. Extinction is not evolution’s driver; survival is. The engine of evolution is survival amidst competition. It’s a little like what drives innovation in business. To see this, let’s simply compare the species diversity of the Northern Hemisphere, where periodic ice sheets largely wiped the slate clean, with those of the tropics, where the evolutionary time clock continued running throughout. A couple of acres in eastern temperate North America might have a dozen tree species or fewer. In the Amazon a similar area can have 300 tree species. All of North American has 1,400 species of trees; Brazil has 8,800. All of North America has just over 900 birds; Colombia has 1,900 species. All of North America has 722 butterfly species. Where I am right now, along the Tambopata River in Peru, biologists have tallied around 1,200 butterfly species.

Competition among living species drives proliferation into diversified specialties. Specialists increasingly exploit narrowing niches. We can think of this as a marketplace of life, where little competition necessitates little specialization, thus little proliferation. An area with many types of trees, for instance, directly causes the evolution of many types of highly specialized pollinating insects, hummingbirds, and pollinating bats, who visit only the “right” trees. Many flowering plants are pollinated by just one specialized species.

Pyron muddles several kinds of extinctions, then serves up further misunderstanding of how evolution works. So let’s clarify. Mass extinctions are global; they involve the whole planet. There have been five mass extinctions and we’ve created a sixth . Past mass extinctions happened when the entire planet became more hostile. Regional wipeouts, as occurred during the ice ages, are not considered mass extinctions, even though many species can go extinct. Even without these major upheavals there are always a few species blinking out due to environmental changes or new competitors. And there are pseudo-extinctions where old forms no longer exist, but only because their descendants have changed through time. 

New species do not suddenly “arise,” nor are they really new. They evolve from existing species, as population gene pools change.

Crucially for understanding the relationship between extinction and evolution is this: New species do not suddenly “arise,” nor are they really new. New species evolve from existing species, as population gene pools change. Many “extinct” species never really died out; they just changed into what lives now. Not all the dinosaurs went extinct; theropod dinosaurs survived. They no longer exist because they evolved into what we call birds. Australopithecines no longer exist, but they did not all go extinct. Their children morphed into the genus Homo, and the tool- and fire-making Homo erectus may well have survived to become us. If they indeed are our direct ancestor — as some species was — they are gone now, but no more “extinct” than our own childhood. All species come from ancestors, in lineages that have survived.

Pyron’s contention that the “hardiest” flourish is a common misconception. A sloth needs to be slow; a faster sloth is going to wind up as dinner in a harpy eagle nest. A white bear is not “hardier” than a brown one; the same white fur that provides camouflage in a snowy place will scare away prey in green meadow. Bears with genes for white fur flourished in the Arctic, while brown bears did well amidst tundra and forests. Polar bears evolved from brown bears of the tundra; they got so specialized that they separated, then specialized further. Becoming a species is a process, not an event. “New” species are simply specialized descendants of old species.

True extinctions beget nothing. Humans have recently sped the extinction rate by about a thousand times compared to the fossil record. The fact that the extinction of dinosaurs was followed, over tens of millions of years, by a proliferation of mammals, is irrelevant to present-day decisions about rhinos, elephant populations, or monarch butterflies. Pyron’s statement, “There is no such thing as an ‘endangered species,’ except for all species,” is like saying there are no endangered children except for all children. It’s like answering “Black lives matter” with “All lives matter.” It’s a way of intentionally missing the point. 

Chestnut-sided warbler ( Setophaga pensylvanica ). Source: Francesco Veronesi/ Wikimedia

Here’s the point: All life today represents non-extinctions; each species, every living individual, is part of a lineage that has not gone extinct in a billion years.

Pyron also expressed the opinion that “the only reason we should conserve biodiversity is for ourselves …” I don’t know of another biologist who shares this opinion. Pyron’s statement makes little practical sense, because reducing the diversity and abundance of the living world will rob human generations of choices, as values change. Save the passenger pigeon? Too late for that. Whales? A few people acted in time to keep most of them. Elephants? Our descendants will either revile or revere us for what we do while we have the planet’s reins in our hands for a few minutes. We are each newly arrived and temporary tourists on this planet, yet we find ourselves custodians of the world for all people yet unborn. A little humility, and forbearance, might comport.

Thus Pyron’s most jarring assertion: “Extinction does not carry moral significance, even when we have caused it.” That statement is a stranger to thousands of years of philosophy on moral agency and reveals an ignorance of human moral thinking. Moral agency issues from an ability to consider consequences. Humans are the species most capable of such consideration. Thus many philosophers consider humans the only creatures capable of acting as moral agents. An asteroid strike, despite its consequences, has no moral significance. Protecting bears by declaring Katmai National Monument, or un-protecting Bears Ears National Monument, are acts of moral agency. Ending genetic lineages millions of years old, either actively or by the willful neglect that Pyron advocates, certainly qualifies as morally significant.

Do we really wish a world with only what we “rely on for food and shelter?” Do animals have no value if we don’t eat them?

How can we even decide which species we “directly depend’’ upon? We don’t directly depend on peacocks or housecats, leopards or leopard frogs, humpback whales or hummingbirds or chestnut-sided warblers or millions of others. Do we really wish a world with only what we “rely on for food and shelter,” as Pyron seemed to advocate? Do animals have no value if we don’t eat them? I happen not to view my dogs as food, for instance. Things we “rely on” make life possible, sure, but the things we don’t need make life worthwhile.

When Pyron wrote, “Conservation is needed for ourselves and only ourselves… If this means fewer dazzling species, fewer unspoiled forests, less untamed wilderness, so be it,” he expressed a dereliction of the love, fascination, and perspective that motivates the practice of biology.

Here is a real biologist, Alfred Russell Wallace, co-discoverer of evolution by natural selection:

I thought of the long ages of the past during which the successive generations of these things of beauty had run their course … with no intelligent eye to gaze upon their loveliness, to all appearances such a wanton waste of beauty… . This consideration must surely tell us that all living things were not made for man… . Their happiness and enjoyments, their loves and hates, their struggles for existence, their vigorous life and early death, would seem to be immediately related to their own well-being and perpetuation alone. —The Malay Archipelago, 1869

At the opposite pole of Wallace’s human insight and wonder, Pyron asked us to become complicit in extinction. “The goals of species conservation have to be aligned with the acceptance that large numbers of animals will go extinct,” he asserted. “Thirty to 40 percent of species may be  threatened  with extinction in the near future, and their loss may be inevitable. But both the planet and humanity can probably survive or even thrive in a world with fewer species … The species that we rely on for food and shelter are a tiny proportion of total biodiversity, and most humans live in — and rely on — areas of only moderate biodiversity, not the Amazon or the Congo Basin.”

African elephant ( Loxodonta africana ). Source: Flowcomm/ Flickr

Right now, in the Amazon as I type, listening to nocturnal birds and bugs and frogs in this towering emerald cathedral of life, thinking such as Pyron’s strikes me as failing to grasp both the living world and the human spirit. 

The massive destruction that Pyron seems to so cavalierly accept isn’t necessary. When I was a kid, there were no ospreys, no bald eagles, no peregrine falcons left around New York City and Long Island where I lived. DDT and other hard pesticides were erasing them from the world. A small handful of passionate people sued to get those pesticides banned, others began breeding captive falcons for later release, and one biologist brought osprey eggs to nests of toxically infertile parents to keep faltering populations on life support. These projects succeeded. All three of these species have recovered spectacularly and now again nest near my Long Island home. Extinction wasn’t a cost of progress; it was an unnecessary cost of carelessness. Humans could work around the needs of these birds, and these creatures could exist around development. But it took some thinking, some hard work, and some tinkering.

It’s not that anyone thinks humans have not greatly changed the world, or will stop changing it. Rather, as the great wildlife ecologist Aldo Leopold wrote in his 1949 classic A Sand County Almanac , “To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.”

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Biodiversity: What is it and how can we protect it?

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The UN and its global partners will grapple with the massive loss of animal and plant species and how to avoid further extinction at a major conference beginning 23 January. Here’s a primer on what exactly biodiversity is and how the UN can help support efforts to enable nature to survive and thrive.

What does 'biodiversity' mean and why is it important?

In simple terms, biodiversity refers to all types of life on Earth. The UN Convention on Biological Diversity ( CBD ) describes it as “the diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems, including plants, animals, bacteria, and fungi”. These three levels work together to create life on Earth, in all its complexity.

The diversity of species keep the global ecosystem in balance, providing everything in nature that we, as humans, need to survive, including food, clean water, medicine and shelter.  Over  half of global GDP  is strongly dependent on nature. More than one billion people  rely on forests  for their livelihoods.

Biodiversity is also our strongest natural defence against  climate change . Land and ocean ecosystems act as “carbon sinks”, absorbing more than half of all carbon emissions.

Forests are being restored through biodiversity enterprise programmes in Kenya.

Why are we talking about it now?

Because the first big push of the year to put the UN’s bold plan to protect biodiversity into practice  takes place in the Swiss capital, Bern , between 23 and 25 January. 

Introducing the conference, Patricia Kameri-Mbote, Director of the United Nations Environment Programme ( UNEP ) Law Division,  warned that the lack of coordination between the various organizations trying to protect biodiversity is a “critical challenge” that needs to be urgently overcome “as we strive for a world living in harmony with nature by 2050”. A key aim of the conference will be to solve that problem by pulling together the various initiatives taking place across the world.

Climate change and unsustainable land and water practices are driving drought conditions across the world.

Is there a crisis?

Yes. It’s very serious, and it needs to be urgently tackled. 

Starting with the natural and land sea carbon sinks mentioned above. They are being degraded, with examples including the deforestation of the Amazon and the disappearance of salt marshes and mangrove swamps, which remove large amounts of carbon. The way we use the land and sea is one of the biggest drivers of biodiversity loss. Since 1990, around 420 million hectares of forest have been lost through conversion to other land uses. Agricultural expansion continues to be the main driver of deforestation, forest degradation and forest biodiversity loss.

Other major drivers of species decline include overfishing and the introduction of invasive alien species (species that have entered and established themselves in the environment outside their natural habitat, causing the decline or even extinction of native species and negatively affecting ecosystems).

These activities, UNEP has shown , are pushing around a million species of plants and animals towards extinction. They range from the critically endangered South China tiger and Indonesian orangutans to supposedly “ common” animals and plants, such as giraffes and parrots as well as oak trees, cacti and seaweed.  This is the largest loss of life since the dinosaurs.  

Combined with skyrocketing levels of pollution, the degradation of the natural habitat and biodiversity loss are having serious impacts on communities around the world. As global temperatures rise, once fertile grasslands turn to desert, and in the ocean, there are hundreds of so-called “dead zones”, where scarcely any aquatic life remains.

The loss of biodiversity affects the way an ecosystem functions, leading to species being less able to respond to changes in the environment and making them increasingly vulnerable to natural disasters. If an ecosystem has a wide diversity of organisms, it is likely that they will not all be affected in the same way. For instance, if one species is killed off then a similar species can take its place. 

What is the Biodiversity Plan?

The Plan, officially called the Kunming-Montreal  Global Biodiversity Framework , is a UN-driven landmark agreement adopted by 196 countries to guide global action on nature through to 2030, which was hashed out at meetings in Kunming, China and Montreal, Canada, in 2022.

The aim is to address biodiversity loss, restore ecosystems and protect indigenous rights. Indigenous peoples  suffer disproportionately from loss of biological diversity and environmental degradation. Their lives, survival, development chances, knowledge, environment and health conditions are threatened by environmental degradation, large scale industrial activities, toxic waste, conflicts and forced migration as well as by land-use and land-cover changes such as deforestation for agriculture and extractives.

There are concrete measures to halt and reverse nature loss, including putting 30 per cent of the planet and 30 per cent of degraded ecosystems under protection by 2030. Currently 17 per cent of land and around eight per cent of marine areas are protected. The plan also contains proposals to increase financing to developing countries – a major sticking point during talks – and indigenous peoples.

Countries have to come up with national biodiversity strategies and action plans as well as set or revise national targets to match the ambition of global goals.

Maize, in its many varieties, is the most important cereal crop in sub-Saharan Africa.

What else will the UN do to protect biodiversity this year?

Next month the UN Environment Assembly ( UNEA ), otherwise known as the   “World’s Environment Parliament” will meet at the UN office in Nairobi . The event   brings together governments, civil society groups, the scientific community and the private sector to highlight the most pressing issues and improve global governance of the environment. UNEA 2024 will focus on climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.

However, the main event will be the  UN Biodiversity Conference , which will take place in Colombia in October. Delegates will discuss how to restore lands and seas in a way that protects the planet and respects the rights of local communities.

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Essay on Biodiversity

Students are often asked to write an essay on Biodiversity in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Biodiversity

Understanding biodiversity.

Biodiversity is the variety of life on Earth. It includes all living things, from tiny organisms like bacteria to large animals like elephants.

Importance of Biodiversity

Biodiversity is crucial for our survival. It provides us with food, clean air, and water. It also helps in controlling climate and diseases.

Threats to Biodiversity

Sadly, biodiversity is decreasing due to human activities. Deforestation, pollution, and climate change are major threats.

Protecting Biodiversity

We can protect biodiversity by planting trees, reducing pollution, and promoting sustainable use of resources. Remember, every action counts.

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250 Words Essay on Biodiversity

Introduction to biodiversity.

Biodiversity, a term coined to describe the immense variety and variability of life on Earth, is a pivotal concept in biology. It encompasses the range of species, their genetic variation, and the complex ecosystems they form. Biodiversity is not just about the richness of species, but also about the intricate interconnections that maintain the balance of our planet.

The Importance of Biodiversity

Biodiversity holds both intrinsic and instrumental value. Intrinsically, every species has a right to exist. Instrumentally, biodiversity provides ecosystem services such as food provision, climate regulation and recreational benefits. It also acts as an insurance policy against future environmental uncertainty, with the potential for new medicines, materials, and foods yet to be discovered.

The main threats to biodiversity include habitat loss, climate change, invasive species, overexploitation, and pollution. These factors, largely driven by human activities, have led to unprecedented rates of species extinction. The loss of biodiversity is not just an environmental issue, but also a developmental, economic, security, social and moral issue.

The Future of Biodiversity

The future of biodiversity relies heavily on our actions today. Conservation efforts, sustainable use of resources, and integrating biodiversity considerations into all aspects of decision-making are crucial. Involving local communities in conservation, recognizing their rights and knowledge, can also be a powerful tool for biodiversity preservation.

In conclusion, biodiversity is the lifeblood of our planet. Its preservation requires a holistic approach, recognizing the interconnectedness of life, and the vital role biodiversity plays in maintaining the health and resilience of our planet.

500 Words Essay on Biodiversity

Biodiversity, a term coined from ‘biological diversity,’ refers to the variety of life on Earth at all its levels, from genes to ecosystems. It encompasses the evolutionary, ecological, and cultural processes that sustain life. Biodiversity is not evenly distributed, rather it varies across the globe, the greatest being found in the tropics.

Biodiversity holds both intrinsic and instrumental value. Intrinsically, every species has a right to exist, irrespective of its utility to human beings. Instrumentally, biodiversity is vital for maintaining the health of the planet and delivering benefits vital for human survival. It provides ecosystem services such as pollination, nutrient cycling, climate regulation, and the provision of food, fuel, fiber, and medicines.

Unfortunately, human activities threaten biodiversity. Habitat destruction, overexploitation, pollution, invasive species, and climate change are driving species towards extinction at an unprecedented rate. The loss of biodiversity has severe implications on human societies. It undermines the capacity of ecosystems to provide their services, threatening societal resilience.

Conservation of Biodiversity

Conservation of biodiversity is no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity. Conservation strategies can be grouped into in-situ and ex-situ. In-situ conservation involves protecting species in their natural habitats, through the creation of protected areas such as national parks. Ex-situ conservation involves protecting species outside their natural habitats, such as in zoos or seed banks.

Role of Technology in Biodiversity Conservation

In the age of technology, we have powerful tools at our disposal for biodiversity conservation. Satellite imaging allows us to monitor habitat loss. Genetic techniques help us understand species’ relationships and identify conservation priorities. Citizen science initiatives, fueled by the proliferation of smartphones, allow the public to contribute to biodiversity monitoring.

Biodiversity is the lifeblood of our planet, and its loss threatens our very existence. We must recognize the intrinsic value of biodiversity and the role it plays in providing essential ecosystem services. By understanding the threats to biodiversity and employing innovative conservation strategies, we can ensure a sustainable future for all species. It’s not just about preserving nature for nature’s sake, but about securing a future for ourselves and generations to come.

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protecting biodiversity essay

We Need Urgent Action to Protect Biodiversity

protecting biodiversity essay

By Monica Dean and Lindsay Filgas on August 5, 2020

We can’t live without nature’s help; and nature can’t live without our help. We must protect our planet’s biodiversity to safeguard the future of our ecosystems, our climate, our health — and our humanity. In this special series, the UN Foundation takes a closer look at why and how to protect nature, and we meet some of the people on the frontlines of the fight .

Earth is the only planet in the universe known to host life, from huge blue whales and redwood trees to tiny bacteria and fungi. The variety of plants, animals, and microbes — the world’s biodiversity — is so immense that thousands of species are still being discovered every year.

Human well-being is intimately tied to the well-being of these species, but as societies have become increasingly industrialized, our relationship with nature has changed. Climate change and growing demand for timber, food, and water have put severe stress on biodiversity and the health of natural ecosystems. We are destroying our planet at an unprecedented rate, with hundreds of species going extinct each year.

To address this rising global challenge, this fall world leaders will participate in the virtual United Nations Summit on Biodiversity to support urgent action on the crisis while advancing sustainable development. At the summit leaders have an opportunity to build an ambitious, global response and set the stage for new international commitments on biodiversity conservation that will be set in 2021 at a meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the main forum for nations to work together to protect the only known life in the universe. “International cooperation is vital to protecting biodiversity and conservation of natural resources,” said Tom Lovejoy, UN Foundation senior fellow, and known as the “Godfather of Biodiversity.” “Restoring and protecting biodiversity is critical for both planetary and human health.

Biodiversity is Essential for our Planet, our Climate, our Health

Urgent global action on biodiversity is critical. A year ago, a report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) found that 1 million species are at risk of extinction — more than ever before in human history. Many other challenges facing biodiversity have caused this growing crisis.

Here are five reasons we need urgent action on biodiversity:

1. Biodiversity is already suffering from human actions. The extinction rate today is 10 to 100 times higher than the past 10 million years. Every animal and plant has a unique, essential role in nature. Each species extinction is like removing a brick from a tower — as more pressure is put on the other bricks, the risk of total collapse increases. Acting now to preserve biodiversity boosts the resiliency of ecosystems to other harms, including climate change.

2. Biodiversity and human health are deeply interconnected. The destruction of natural habitats leads to greater interaction between humans and animals. Biodiversity creates a barrier between humans and dangerous diseases such as COVID-19. In a recent IPBES podcast, Dr. Peter Daszak, a zoologist, explained that most pandemics are linked to wildlife and human-caused environmental change, such as deforestation and wildlife trade. A recent report shows that the cost of protecting biodiversity is orders of magnitude less than the fallout from pandemics such as COVID-19. But the benefits of protecting nature don’t stop at reducing disease. Biodiversity also provides us with food, safe water, and medicine, and it has positive impacts on mental health, from inspiration to preserving cultural practices to enabling recreation.

3. Biodiversity is an essential tool in fighting the climate crisis. Land and ocean ecosystems are currently the only way we have of trapping large amounts of carbon dioxide, and together they absorb 60% of human-caused emissions. Protecting our diverse ecosystems is critical to meeting our climate goals. Not only does biodiversity loss drive climate change, but as the climate changes, biodiversity faces a substantial risk. If we act now, biodiversity can be part of the climate solution. In fact, nature-based solutions — climate strategies with co-benefits for biodiversity — have the potential to provide more than a third of the necessary emissions reductions needed by 2030 to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement.

protecting biodiversity essay

A native Dayak Iban man in Indonesia collects Entibab palm to eat. Photo: If Not Us Then Who?/ Kynan Tegar

4. Biodiversity loss disproportionately affects poor and Indigenous communities. Because many of these communities rely heavily on biodiversity for food, livelihoods, and health, declines in biodiversity have a more severe impact on them, and in fact they are already experiencing this loss. A quarter of the land on Earth — representing a significant amount of the world’s biodiversity — is home to Indigenous people. For thousands of years they have stewarded our planet’s wild places. Not only is protecting their ways of life important, but their traditional knowledge also can help to protect biodiversity. If we take action now, we can protect biodiversity, lift up marginalized communities, and make progress against inequality and poverty.

5. Sustainable development relies on biodiversity. A majority of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are threatened by declines in biodiversity and ecosystem functions. From hunger and water, to gender and equity, achieving our global goals requires the protection and restoration of ecosystems, as well as the sustainable and equitable use of biodiversity. As 2020 marks the end of the UN Decade on Biodiversity and the start of the Decade of Action and Delivery for Sustainable Development, it’s critical that we strengthen the ties that connect the two.

What We Can Do to Preserve and Protect Biodiversity

At the core of protecting biodiversity is the recognition that it intersects with and underpins all aspects of human well-being and development. Biodiversity exemplifies the deep interconnectedness of the Earth’s systems and reminds us that no SDG can be accomplished in isolation.

The need for urgent action is clear. The coming year is critical for governments to take decisive action on biodiversity, starting with commitments at the UN Summit on Biodiversity in September and continuing through May 2021, when countries will meet to approve a new set of targets, the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.

However, government commitments alone will not be enough. Individual actions — from avoiding plastic pollution to supporting sustainable agriculture — can help protect biodiversity and be part of a global transition to a more sustainable world. Each species, including humans, plays a role on our planet, and it’s our job to act now to preserve the health of all species, including our own.

The UN Foundation has partnered with Indigenous photographers from  If Not Us Then Who? to tell stories of their respective communities and share the importance of biodiversity. See more work from Edgar  and Kynan  on Instagram and be sure to follow.

Featured photo and parallax photos: If Not UsThen Who?/ Edgar Kanayko

Lindsay Filgas is the UN Foundation Schneider Fellow for Climate

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Essay on Biodiversity

Biodiversity is a term made up of two words - Bio meaning Life, and Diversity meaning Variety. The term biodiversity refers to the variety of life on Earth. Plants, animals, microbes, and fungi are all examples of living species on the planet.

Types of Biodiversity  

Genetic Biodiversity- Genetic diversity is the variation in genes and genotypes within a species, e.g., every human looks different from the other. 

Species Biodiversity- Species Diversity is the variety of species within a habitat or a region. It is the biodiversity observed within a community.

Ecosystem Biodiversity- Ecological biodiversity refers to the variations in the plant and animal species living together and connected by food chains and food webs.

Importance of Biodiversity 

Biodiversity is an integral part of cultural identity. Human cultures co-evolve with their environment and conservation is a priority for cultural identity. Biodiversity is used for Medicinal purposes.

Many plants and animals are used for medicinal purposes, like vitamins and painkillers. It contributes to climate stability. It helps in controlling the effects of climate change and managing greenhouse gases. 

Biodiversity provides more food resources. It supplies many vital ecosystems, such as creating and maintaining soil quality, controlling pests, and providing habitat for wildlife. Biodiversity has a relationship with Industry. Biological sources provide many Industrial materials including rubber, cotton, leather, food, paper, etc.

There are many economic benefits of Biodiversity. Biodiversity also helps in controlling pollution. Biodiversity helps in forming a healthy ecosystem. Biodiversity also acts as a source of recreation. Along with other factors, biodiversity helps in improving soil quality.

Long Essay on Biodiversity 

There are many economic benefits of Biodiversity. Biodiversity is a source of economic wealth for many regions of the world. Biodiversity facilitates Tourism and the Recreational industry. Natural Reserves and National Parks benefit a lot from it. Forest, wildlife, biosphere reserve, sanctuaries are prime spots for ecotourism, photography, painting, filmmaking, and literary works.

Biodiversity plays a vital role in the maintenance of the gaseous composition of the atmosphere, breakdown of waste material, and removal of pollutants.

Conservation of Biodiversity  

Biodiversity is very important for human existence as all life forms are interlinked with each other and one single disturbance can have multiple effects on another. If we fail to protect our biodiversity, we can endanger our plants, animals, and environment, as well as human life. Therefore, it is necessary to protect our biodiversity at all costs. Conservation of Biodiversity can be done by educating the people to adopt more environment-friendly methods and activities and develop a more harmonious and empathetic nature towards the environment. The involvement and cooperation of communities are very important. The process of continuous protection of Biodiversity is the need of the hour.

The Government of India, along with 155 other nations, has signed the convention of Biodiversity at the Earth Summit to protect it. According to the summit, efforts should be made in preserving endangered species. 

The preservation and proper management methods for wildlife should be made. Food crops, animals, and plants should be preserved. Usage of various food crops should be kept at a minimum. Every country must realize the importance of protecting the ecosystem and safeguarding the habitat. 

The Government of India has launched the Wild Life Protection Act 1972 to protect, preserve, and propagate a variety of species. The Government has also launched a scheme to protect national parks and sanctuaries. There are 12 countries - Mexico, Columbia, Peru, Brasil, Ecuador, Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, India, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Australia, in which Mega Diversity Centres are located. These countries are tropical and they possess a large number of the world’s species.

Various hotspots have been made to protect the vegetation. There are various methods for conserving biodiversity. 

If biodiversity conservation is not done efficiently, each species would eventually become extinct due to a lack of appetite and hunger. This scenario has been a big issue for the last few decades, and many unique species have already become extinct. As a result of a lack of biodiversity protection, several species are still on the verge of extinction.

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FAQs on Biodiversity Essay

1. What are the three types of Biodiversity?

Biodiversity is referred to as the variability that exists between the living organisms from different sources of nature, such as terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems. Biodiversity has three levels, which are genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity. This is also considered as the type of ecosystem.

2. What is Biodiversity and why is it important?

Biodiversity is responsible for boosting the productivity of the ecosystems in which every species, no matter how small, has an important role to play. For example, a greater variety of crops can be obtained from a plant species which is in large numbers. If species diversity is in a greater amount, then it ensures natural sustainability for all life forms.

3. What is the connection between Biodiversity and the Food Chain?

If a single species goes extinct from the food chain, it will have an impact on the species that survive on it, putting them on the verge of extinction.

4. How are human beings affecting biodiversity?

Pollution- Pollution not only affects human beings, but also affects our flora and fauna, and we should control the pollution to conserve our biodiversity.

Population- Population control is a must to maintain a balance in our ecological system. Humans contribute to pollution by bursting crackers and by not following all the traffic rules.

5. How does Deforestation affect biodiversity?

Deforestation- Trees are very important for survival. They help in balancing out the ecosystem. Deforestation leads to the destruction of habitat. Deforestation should be stopped to protect our animals and plants. Deforestation not only removes vegetation that is important for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but it also emits greenhouse gases.

The Importance of Biodiversity in Ecosystem Essay

The urgent need to maintain biodiversity, urgent need to reform behavior, maintaining biodiversity, cobb and lovelock.

Biodiversity is the description of the natural state of the planet. It is not something that humans can create, they can only manage it. Biodiversity is an important aspect of the earth’s ecosystem. It is extremely unfortunate that mankind will realize this when it is already too late. The most urgent problem right now is to maintain the level of biodiversity in this world but it has to begin with a more in-depth understanding of how different species of flora and fauna can be saved from extinction. The lack of knowledge is the main reason why many are apathetic when it comes to conservation of the earth’s natural resources, especially when it comes to maintaining the earth’s biodiversity.

Three different but related scientific works will be consulted in this study in order to have a more well-rounded view of biodiversity as well as to reach a level of understanding that humans are part of the earth’s ecosystem. Humans must be active participants in conserving planet earth because he could not afford to be indifferent to its plight. Apathy will only bring destruction because no matter how technologically advanced the human race has become, it will not be able to survive without living organisms. According to Lovelock, they are man’s partner in keeping this planet alive. Every organism, including man is dependent on the integrity of the earth’s ecosystem.

There is a common thread that weaves through the works of E.O. Wilson, John Cobb, and James Lovelock. It is the idea that humans must have a heightened awareness of its destructive actions. Wilson said the rate of decline is impossible to measure because of the numerous species that are in the wild and that no one really has an accurate data on every single species of flora and fauna that existed since the beginning of time.

But there is one way to get a basic understanding of how biodiversity has declined in recent centuries. Wilson’s article will help provide this insight when he described the current state of tropical rainforests. Referring to rainforests Wilson wrote, “….although these habitats cover only 7% of the Earth’s land surface, they contain more than half the species in the entire world biota” (Wilson, 8). Knowing that tropical rainforests are being threatened by human activity one will have a basic knowledge of the rapid decline of biodiversity in the planet.

Cobb has the same basic premise but he wanted to emphasize the reason why humans are indifferent to the plight of the earth’s ecosystem and threatened species of flora and fauna. Cobb said that “In the pursuit of economic gain, most people do not want to be bothered by questions about biodiversity” (Cobb, 481). But instead of simply appealing to the scientific mind – the path that Wilson took – Cobb appealed to human life outside the scope of biology. From reading Cobb’s arguments one can get the idea that human life is more than eating nutritious food and inhaling fresh air. By destroying forest cover, killing species of fish and birds man has forever lost the chance to enjoy the interaction with these plants and animals.

Decades from now a beautiful mountain covered with evergreen trees will appear as an eyesore with its bald spots – unable to sustain a single tree. In other words there is more at stake than what was previously thought. The fight for biodiversity is not just about nature but also about the richness of human experience forever lost. Cobb also asserted that Western thought has perpetuated the idea that man is the most important being on this earth and that everything must be done to ensure that man live comfortably and if the acquisition of material possessions require the destruction of the environment then so be it.

Lovelock pointed out that the utter disregard for the condition of the planet is dangerous not only to the species that are pushed to the brink of extinction but also to human life. It is therefore ironic that in man’s desire to build a city that will sustain the survival of his species he has created a trend that will lead to the destruction of every living organism on this earth. Lovelock provided convincing arguments that the earth is not just a piece of giant rock where man, animals and plants use as their habitat but in reality it is also a living organism. Lovelock said that like the astronauts who had the rare chance of seeing the planet in its entirety, humans must also endeavor to see the whole planet not divided by regions and politics but as one whole, and each part is needed for its survival.

In order to maintain biodiversity one must be prepared for an uphill battle. There is very little incentive to protect the planet much less to protect a seemingly insignificant insect living in an island far away from home. Who really cares if a species of ant in Borneo must be conserved for future generations? Life is so short to be bothered by those kinds of problems. This is the main problem faced by conservationists and scientists who are predicting more problems up ahead. Still this is no excuse to give up the fight. As human population has gone past the 6 billion mark it is time to work harder to find ways on how man and diverse living organisms can share this planet.

Biodiversity is one standard that can be used so that concerned citizens will know if they are winning the battle to save planet earth. It is no longer enough to simply plant trees on denuded mountains. It is no longer enough to protect oceans, rivers and streams from pollution. There is now the urgent need to maintain biodiversity. Biodiversity is about maintaining a fragile ecosystem that relies on different species of flora and fauna to attain sustainability.

A basic example is the relationship between predators and the smaller animals that they prey on. If predators are eliminated from the equation there can be no way to maintain the normal number of animals that they consume for food. An imbalance in this scale can be amplified if other organisms are made extinct. The imbalance can create a chain reaction of events that will lead to the destruction of plants and animals needed by humans. Imagine for a moment if all the bees are dead, then who will take care of pollination? Without thinking of biodiversity in the long term man may experience more serious problems aside from the need to eat hamburgers and fries every weekend.

The views of Cobb and Lovelock are very important to the discussion of biodiversity and the need to rally humans to take a more responsible outlook when it comes to taking care of planet earth. Cobb’s contribution is in pinpointing the root cause of man’s indifference to this issue. Aside from the need to make profit, the average person was made to believe that he is the dominant species on this planet and therefore lower life forms exist to satisfy his needs. This mental hurdle must be dealt first. Wilson’s rhetoric will not make any sense as long as man believes that his survival is of utmost importance.

Lovelock adheres to this view but he finds a better way of convincing people that it is time to change their ways. Lovelock made a convincing argument that flora, fauna, and Homo sapiens are in the same boat. In other words man has no choice but to help because his apathy will lead to his destruction. Lovelock was able to achieve this by pointing out the scientific evidence that the earth is a living organism and that all the organisms in this planet behave in such a way to maintain life on earth. It is just ironic that while plants and animals cooperate in the process of sustaining planet earth, man is ignorant about this truth. It is time to heed the warning of Wilson that there is a need for further investigation and a need to disseminate information about the current state of biodiversity on planet earth.

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Essay on Biodiversity

List of short and long essays on biodiversity, biodiversity essay for kids and school students, essay on biodiversity – essay 1 (150 words), essay on biodiversity: types, importance and conclusion – essay 2 (250 words), essay on biodiversity: with threats and importance – essay 3 (300 words), essay on biodiversity: introduction, importance, decline and steps – essay 4 (400 words), essay on biodiversity – essay 5 (500 words), biodiversity essay for competitive exam and upsc civil services exam, essay on biodiversity: with conclusion – essay 6 (600 words), essay on biodiversity: facts, importance and preservation – essay 7 (750 words), essay on biodiversity in india – essay 8 (1000 words).

Introduction:

Biodiversity also known as biological diversity is the variables that exist among several species living in the ecosystem. These living organisms include marine, terrestrial and aquatic life. Biodiversity aims to understand the positions these organisms occupy in the broader ecosystem.

Importance of Biodiversity:

When there is biodiversity in our ecosystem it translates to a greener environment. This is because plant life thrives in a balanced ecosystem. This invariably affects humans as we consume plants for our survival. Also, a healthy ecosystem can help to reduce the risk of diseases and the way we respond to them.

Increasing Biodiversity:

Some changes could be encouraged to improve biodiversity in our environment.

Some of them are:

1. Stopping penetration of invasive alien species.

2. Using sustainable agricultural methods.

3. Having protected areas for spices to thrive.

4. Having an organic maintenance culture for fertilizers.

Conclusion:

To make the world a safe place for all organisms, we must maintain good health in all the ecosystems. This is the benefit of paying attention to biodiversity.

Diversity is the hallmark of nature. Things exist in different forms which creates diversity. Biodiversity is a significant and desirable variation in plant and animal existence on the surface of the earth. The variation exists due to genetics, species and the ecosystem or the habitat. Biodiversity is an important aspect in the world because it enables the survival and sustainability of living things on earth.

Types of Biodiversity:

The variation in living things has resulted in different types of biodiversity depending on the certain variables. Genetic diversity is due to the genetic components shared by living organisms. The species that have similar genes diverge and they develop differently thus creating biodiversity. Species diversity occurs when a habitat comprises different kinds of living things. Ecological diversity is through the interaction of living things that share common sources of energy in an ecosystem which contributes to biodiversity.

The existence of living things in an ecosystem and the functioning of the ecosystem contribute to the relevance of biodiversity in nature. Through biodiversity, living organisms are able to acquire food and other important resources to sustain their lives. The climate and environmental changes are regulated because of biodiversity. The culture is enriched through biodiversity as it involves existence of several groups of species and people in one environment.

All the three types of biodiversity are important to the existence of living organisms. The ecosystem is the hallmark of diversity because it helps to sustain the lives of diverse living things.

Biodiversity is the variability or the diversity of the different species of life forms. The planet earth is habitat for a wide variety of flora and fauna like plants, animals and other life forms.

What is Biodiversity?

Biodiversity or Biological diversity refers to the variety and variability of living beings on planet earth and it is the degree of variation of life. It represents the wealth of biological assets available on earth and encompasses microorganism, plants, animals and ecosystems such as coral reefs, forests, rainforests, deserts etc.

Threats to Biodiversity:

The growing population, industrialization, technology, etc., all are impacting biodiversity. The increased human activities have been reducing the natural area for plants, animals and other living things. A number of plants and animals have gone extinct because of increased deforestation and other factors. Growing pollution, causing global warming and climate change, is a big threat to biodiversity. The decline in biodiversity would in turn lead to imbalance in the ecosystem and would become a threat to the human race as well as other living organisms.

Different plants and animals are dependent on others to live and keep the natural surroundings in a balanced state. For example, human beings are dependent on various plants and animals for their food, shelter, safety, clothes etc. Similarly, every living species is dependent on some other species. It is, therefore, important to preserve biodiversity in our planet in order to maintain the ecological balance.

Protecting Biodiversity:

As we know, the biodiversity loss is a serious threat for human race, we all should work for maintaining biodiversity, and find out solutions to reduce the biodiversity decline. Since, air pollution and deforestation are major threats to biodiversity, these are the first things that need to be controlled. Government should frame stricter laws and organizations should sensitize people to be concerned about it and contribute their bit.

Biodiversity, also referred to as the biological diversity refers to the diversified form of plants and animals that exists in our planet . It also denotes each and every aspect of the ecosystem such as micro-organisms, coral reefs, rainforests, deserts, forests etc.,

A good balance in biodiversity supports human race and humans on the other hand must ensure to save biodiversity. This essay is going to talk about the importance of biodiversity and the role of human beings in safeguarding the ecosystem.

There are more than 300,000 species of flora that has been identified and there should be many more unidentified varieties. Similarly there must be infinite variety of other species in our Earth and these together form a perfect natural protection for the human race. Biodiversity supports human race in different ways.

Few of them are listed below:

1. Some of the species capture and stores energy and releases it back in the atmosphere for human consumption.

2. Some biological species help in decomposing organic materials and thus acts as a natural recycling agent.

3. Plants and trees help in reducing pollution and maintain the purity of atmospheric air.

4. It is from the biological resources that humans receive food and shelter.

5. The astonishing beauty of biodiversity is the base for tourism industry to flourish.

Decline in Biodiversity:

The Earth’s biodiversity is undergoing a severe decline and this is a great threat to the human race. There are several factors that lead to the decline in biological species, the most significant one being the behavior of human beings.

1. Human beings destroy forests to build houses and offices. Through deforestation humans are actually destroying the natural habitat of many plants and animals.

2. All new scientific inventions are causing harm to the environment. We cannot even find some species of birds today because of the increase in noise pollution.

3. Global warming is another reason for the decline in biodiversity. Some species require specific climate to survive and when the climatic conditions change continuously these species either migrate or become extinct. Decline in the number of coral reefs are a perfect example.

Steps to Be Taken:

The Government and different voluntary organizations must act upon immediately to create awareness among people on environmental issues and its consequences. It is also the responsibility of every common man to save mother Earth by maintaining a rich biodiversity .

If proper care is not taken, the biodiversity of Earth may become extinct one day and if it happens then, humans have to find another planet to live. It’s better to act now before it gets too late.

Biodiversity can be said to mean the extreme importance of a very wide variety of animals and plants that are resident on the planet earth or in a particular habitat. It is very necessary to maintain the level of biodiversity on the earth so that the environmental harmony can be balanced. Biological diversity is another name for biodiversity and is widely the variability or diversity of all the different species of animals and plants on this planet. Having a very high biodiversity is extremely essential to help maintain the surroundings in a state of harmony. Biodiversity can be loosely defined as a variety of fauna and flora that are available in a specific habitat or the planet earth. Biodiversity is largely originated from the terms – species diversity and species richness.

Biodiversity is mainly a united view of the biological varieties. A lot of other words and terms have been at one time or another used to explain diversity. Some of these terms include taxonomic diversity (this comes from a species diversity point of view), ecological diversity (this comes from an ecosystem diversity point of view), morphological diversity (this comes from a genetic diversity point of view) and functional diversity (this comes from the point of view of the functions of the species). Biodiversity gives quite a uniform view of the above discussed biological varieties.

Biological diversity is quite important because its helps maintain the ecological balance in a system. Different animals and plants depend on one another to fulfill all of their needs. For example, we human beings depend on various animals and plants for our clothes, shelter and food. Other species also do the same and depend on a variety of other species to sustain them and provide them with the basics. Biodiversity and its beautiful richness ensure that the earth is fit enough for the survival of each and every one of the organism living on the earth. However, the ever increasing pollution is negatively affecting biodiversity. Quite a lot of animals and plants have gone into extinction as a result of this pollution and a lot more are going to become extinct if proper care is not taken and the pollution of the environment continues to exponentially and this would cause a sharp decline in the biodiversity.

We human beings have to understand how important the maintenance of the immensely rich biodiversity is. Smokes from vehicles causes a high rate of air pollution and this causes harm to a lot of species. The level of pollution in the atmosphere has to be put under control. Water bodies like seas, oceans and rivers are polluted by the release of industrial wastes into the. These wastes are very harmful to the marine organism and life in the water bodies. There is therefore a need to try as much as possible to dispose industrial wastes through other means and methods that do not harm the environment. The industrial wastes can be primarily treated before being disposed into the water properly and safely.

When you are a biology student biodiversity is one of the most important words you can learn. Not only that but it also becomes your lives calling to maintain it. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves before we can understand why it is important, we need to understand what it is.

This term refers to the many different life forms that inhabit the earth at this moment, this includes bacteria, plants, animals and humans and it also refers to their shared environment. Life has manifested itself in many different forms we do not know why exactly but we are certain that they all exist and depend on each other for survival.

Why is biodiversity important?

The answer to this question is more important than just simply stating what biodiversity is. My personal experience as a student has thought me that I learn best when I have an example so I will give you an example of the importance of biodiversity.

The famous Yellowstone Park is a natural reserve and national park but before it was declared as such it was just another forest that man wanted to hunt in. The geographical region had many wolfs inhabiting its plains, for generations they were hunted until they became extinct in the region. After a while, the coyotes began to reproduce as they hade more space and they started hunting the small mammals, which lead to a decrease in the population of eagles in the area but the most significant change came because of the deer. After fifty years of no wolfs in the park the number of roe deer rose and since they had no natural predators, they no longer feared open grasslands. That’s when they started grazing extensively which depleted the grass on the shore of the Yellow stone river and this, in turn, made the soil loos. The river began to take away a lot of soil and to deposit it in other places flooding certain areas while at the same time causing droughts to happen in other places.

Biologists came to the park with a wish to restore its wolf population and after a decade of planning and working they restored one pack to the park. The pack soon made the deer go back to the forest so they could be harder to hunt, the coyote’s population dropped because they couldn’t compete with the wolf, that led to the increase of small rodents which let to the return of carnivores’ grate birds. But above all the grazing on the river edge stopped and after a few years, the Yellowstone river returned to its natural flow.

This story is completely true and I love to use it as an example of the importance of maintaining biodiversity. There are many regions in the world that have similar problems and if we do not do our best to conserve biodiversity, we could be looking at similar or even worst natural catastrophes.

People tend to mass produce and they do this with most things. They will destroy a forest of many thousands of life forms to make a plantation with one single plant, the same is true of animal farming. With our need to be productive all the time we lose sight of the small things that make the system function as whole. Even though an insignificant thing as a bug or a wolf pack might seem the least important for our daily lives once we take them out of the picture, we see that the balance and wealth biodiversity gives to the planet is not something that can be easily compensated.

The genetic, species and ecosystem variability of flora and fauna on earth are known as Biodiversity. For painting what exactly is Biodiversity, we need a large canvas beyond imagination. Such is the volume of the subject. But, the actual meaning and terms are still not clear.

Keeping it very simple and to the point, the term ‘Biodiversity’ comprises of two words. The first word is Bio, and the other one is Diversity. Bio means the forms of life and Diversity means mixture or variety. So, when both the words combine they form a definition like this ‘Biodiversity means various and mixed forms of life on earth.’ The variety of life forms on earth includes plants and animals and their natural habitat.

Facts about Biodiversity:

Digging into the term ‘Biodiversity’ more generously makes us realize that we have over 10,000 species of birds on earth. The amazing number blows everyone’s mind. Insects have a different counting, and their species are in millions. Plants are also a part of this biological system, and hence there are more than 20,000 species of plants.

Even after so many species of plants, animals and insects have specified there are still over millions of species which are not known by anyone. These species cannot be counted under any head as they don’t pursue an identity. The actual picture says that earth is home to almost 50 million species or even more than that. These facts do not conclude the point because one or the other day there may be many new species evolving.

Biodiversity is essential for survival. The importance of Biodiversity not only related to plants, animals and natural habitat. But it also provides us so many natural products such as fibre and timber and the fresh water to carry out our daily lives. Therefore we need to understand the importance of Biodiversity.

1.   The natural and organic resources:

In the happiness of living our lives, we often forget that Biodiversity is a part of nature. We should protect it no matter whatever be the limitations. Mother Nature has provided us with enough resources which are the Biological Resources. These include wood, medicines, food, etc., which are direct blessings of Biological System or by-product of the Biological Systems. Herbs and plants play a vital role in producing medicines. They may get their final touch from the pharmaceutical companies, but the original source is plants which are again a part of Biodiversity.

2. Biodiversity provides fibres:

It is important to know that wool, jute, palms, etc., use to produce various types of fibres after processing which are again part of the Biological Systems. So, if biodiversity does not persist how people will have access to these fibres? Flax plants use for the production of linen, which is extensively using for making clothes. Similarly, Corchorus plants and Agave plants are using for the production of Jute and sisal respectively. These fibres are no doubt essential for the cloth industry. Therefore it becomes our duty to maintain the Biodiversity.

3. Powerful benefits of Biodiversity:

People may not be aware of the importance, but there are many spiritual benefits of biodiversity. Our folk dances, mythology, and history have a deep link with the Biodiversity in one or the other way. Everyone enjoys or experience the Biodiversity in a different format. Biological diversity also contributes to attracting tourists, especially flora and fauna, which is a rare phenomenon in cities. Therefore it is our ethical duty to preserve Biodiversity.

Preserve Biodiversity:

There are different ways in which we can preserve our Biological environment. Biodiversity should be protected by following these ways.

i. People should stop the process of hunting and poaching the animals. They are a part of Biodiversity.

ii. Protection of endangered species and their surroundings.

iii. We need to curb pollution for protecting Biodiversity.

iv. The explosive growth of population is a threat to Biodiversity. So, to maintain the biological balance, we need to have the population growth under control. Otherwise, people will be exploiting natural resources unethically for survival.

All steps must be taken to protect biodiversity. Things may seem difficult in the initial stages but practicing them will lead to genuine results. Creating awareness on environmental issues and the negative impact of the loss of biodiversity will let people understand the inevitable need for biodiversity conservation.

It is our responsibility to protect the endangered species of plant and animals. If one wants to reach their destination, then it is imperative to take the first step. Without taking a step forward, things will never change on their own. To make a better tomorrow, we need to take steps for preserving our very own Biodiversity.

Biodiversity is a term used to refer the different forms of life on the Earth. It also includes the variety of species in the ecosystem. There is an uneven distribution of the biodiversity on the Earth due to the extreme variation of temperatures in different regions. For instance, it is more in regions near the equator due to warm climatic conditions. However, near the pole, the extreme cold and unfavourable weather conditions do not support a majority of life forms. Additionally, changes in climatic conditions on the Earth over a period of time have also led to the extinction of a number of species.

Biodiversity is often defined at different levels depending upon the category of species. For example, taxonomic diversity is used to measure the species diversity level of different forms of life on the Earth. Ecological diversity is a broader term used for the ecosystem diversity. Similarly, functional diversity is a type used to measure diversity based on their feeding mechanisms along with other functions of species within a population.

Distribution:

There is an uneven distribution of biodiversity on the Earth. In fact, it increases from pole to equator. The climatic conditions of a region decide the presence of different species in an area. Not all species can survive in all weather conditions. Moreover, lower altitudes have a high concentration of species as compared to higher altitudes.

The importance of biodiversity does not only lie in the survival of various species of the earth. There is social, cultural as well as the economic importance of it as well. Biodiversity is of extreme importance to maintain the balance of nature. It is vital to maintaining the food chain as well. One species may be the food for another species and various species are linked to each other through this food chain. Apart from this, there is scientific importance of the biodiversity as well. The research and breeding programmes involve the variety of species. If these species cease to exist then such programmes shall not be possible.

Also, most of the drugs and medicine which are vital for the cure of many diseases are also made from many plants and animals. For instance, penicillin is a fungus through which the penicillin antibiotic is extracted.

Another important importance of biodiversity is that it provides food to all including human beings. All the food we consume is either derived from plants or animals such as fishes and other marine animals. They are also the source of new crops, pesticides and source material for agricultural practices.

Biodiversity is also important for industrial use. We get many products such as fur, honey, leather and pearls from animals. Moreover, we get timber for plants which are the basis of the paper we use in our everyday life. Tea, coffee and other drinks along with dry fruits and our regular fruits and vegetables, all are obtained from the various plants.

There is cultural and religious importance of many species as well. Many plants and animals are worshipped in different cultures and religions such as Ocitnum sanctum (Tulsi) which is a plant worshipped by Hindus.

Biodiversity in India:

India ranks among the top 12 nations which have a rich heritage of biodiversity. There are about 350 different species of mammals along with 12000 different species of birds which are found in India. Additionally, there are around 50000 species of insects which have their habitat in our country. There are a wide variety of domestic animals such as cows and buffaloes along with marine life which is found in India. Moreover, India is a land of 10 different biographical regions which include islands, Trans Himalayas, Desert, Western Ghats, Gangetic Plain, Semi-arid zone, Northeastern zone, Deccan Plateau, Coastal islands and the Western Ghats.

The Gradual Decrease:

Not all species which existed in the ancient times exist today as well. For example, dinosaurs used to exist on our planet in older times. But they were not able to adapt to the changing environmental conditions which led to their extinction from the Earth. Similarly, there are many other species which are on the verge of extinction due to the urbanisation and modernisation of the world. With the increase in population, there has been a constant need to reduce the forest areas and make way for new cities. This has led to the reduction in forests which are the natural habitat for many wild animals and plants. Due to this many wild plants have become extinct and there has been an increase in the man-animal conflict as well. Hence there has been a need to conserve the biodiversity so as to maintain the balance of nature.

Initiatives for the Conservation of Biodiversity:

There have been initiatives by the governments all over the world to conserve the existing biodiversity on the earth. For example, there are dedicated national parks which earmark the area for wild animals and plants and reduce human intervention in their lives. There are various wildlife conservation programmes in place to protect the vulnerable and endangered species. For example, Project Tiger is one such measure in place to increase the population of tigers in our country.

There are also many laws in place which make the hunting of endangered and vulnerable animals a punishable offence. At the international level, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) have also initiated many programmes in order to preserve various species.

It is not possible for the human to live all alone on the Earth. Various other life forms are equally important and play their roles in the mutual survival of the various species on the Earth. Each one of species has its own set of contribution for the environment. Already many species have become extinct as they were not able to survive in the changing weather conditions. Hence it is our duty to ensure that our activities do not affect the other flora and fauna on the planet. Although there are a number of steps taken by the government so as to preserve the various life forms, we should also contribute individually towards this cause. If we do not act today, we may yet again witness the extinction of the vulnerable biodiversity which may further disturb the balance of nature.

Biodiversity , Ecosystem , Environment

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What You Can Do to Protect Biodiversity

you can help protect biodiversity

Biodiversity —the variety of all living organisms including ecosystems, plants, animals, their habitats and genes—is fundamental to life on Earth. We need biodiversity for its invaluable ecosystem services, providing oxygen, food, clean water, fertile soil, medicines, shelter, protection from storms and floods, a stable climate and recreation. Tragically, today biodiversity is disappearing at 1,000 times the normal rate due to human civilization. Individual species are being obliterated by habitat loss and degradation, invasive species, the spread of pollution and disease, climate change and the over exploitation of resources. And because the human population, which has doubled since 1970, is expected to reach 9 billion by 2050, the biodiversity crisis will only get worse as more people consume more resources.

What can we as individuals do to help slow the loss of biodiversity?  Since consumption of resources is a root cause of biodiversity loss, we can consume less and be more mindful about what we consume. We need to leverage our purchasing power to help protect biodiversity by consuming products that do not harm the environment. Ecolabels enable consumers to determine which products are green, safe, and environmentally sustainable. But because so many ecolabels have sprung up—in 2010, there were 400 different sustainability certifications available around the world—they can be confusing. Here are some of the most reliable and respected ecolabels to look for.

protecting biodiversity essay

Green Seal – Established in 1989, Green Seal boasts one of the first environmental certification programs. It uses lifecycle based sustainability standards to certify products, services, and companies that protect the environment and human health. All significant environmental and social impacts are considered, from raw materials extraction through manufacturing to use and disposal. Certified products include cleansers, construction materials, paints, paper, paper towels and tissue, food packaging, and hand soaps. Cleaning services, restaurants and hotels are also certified.

protecting biodiversity essay

Forest Stewardship Council – The FSC promotes the sustainable management of the world’s forests by ensuring that the harvest of forests for timber and non-timber products maintains a forest’s biodiversity, productivity, and ecological processes, and by respecting the rights of and providing incentives to indigenous people to sustain forest resources. In addition to prohibiting the destruction of natural forests, the FSC safeguards endangered species, and bans toxic pesticides and the planting of genetically modified trees. FSC certified products include lumber, paper, printing, packaging, furniture, and other products made from wood.

protecting biodiversity essay

LEED – The U.S. Green Building Council provides LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification for buildings or communities designed and built with environmentally sensitive siting, energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, sustainable materials, improved indoor environmental quality, innovative technology and strategies, and stewardship of resources. It looks at the building lifecycle from design and construction to operations and maintenance, and substantial retrofits. LEED certification applies to commercial real estate, residential homes, schools and hospitals, and even the design or retrofit of neighborhoods.

protecting biodiversity essay

Certified Wildlife Friendly – The Wildlife Friendly Enterprise Network promotes wildlife conservation through certifying products that are linked to conservation actions, and that benefit and involve local individuals and communities living with wildlife. Certified products include alpaca garments, essential oils, chili products, rice, eco-fashion, a community market organization, and a conservation program that helps control bushmeat poaching. Each certified entity is tied to conservation efforts for particular species.

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guest

Good article! The Energy Star labeling system is a very good system of identifying household products that are the most energy efficient. It is a shame that these products are tageted by their manufacturers to give them maximum profit margin, which is clearly putting potential customers off from buying them and this results in customers not gaining anything on a supposed return on investment, even after a lengthy time. Kind regards !

Jaden

Great article! Yes, there are many things we can do to preserve biodiversity and help our planet. One great way is by finding ways to reduce the energy used to heat and cool our homes.

Pearl Jones

I never really paid much attention to the labels or the variety of the labels. I do have a sadden heart regarding the Rain Forest. I breaks my heart to hear how much de-forestation takes place everyday. I just wish there was some other way to encourage people not to do this.

I know there are a lot of organizations like the Rainforest Alliance that are doing all they can to help. We just need people to stay engaged and remain proactive when it comes to this wonderful natural resource that is so important to our planet.

Thank you for posting this article. I am sure this will benefit many of your readers as much as it has me.

Toddler Table Chair

In my area, people still using plastic bags and non-recycle products. If we can’t educate them to reuse and recycle, we still consume more and more resources. Hope they will realized before the global warming become serious.

LilI

in my area we are planting fruit

dewatering equipment

Environmental pollution is growing year by year and we are responsible for this. So that, it our duty to control the pollution. We have concern about reuse and recycling of the waste products. We should use Eco friendly and recyclable product.

Tompoo Ngamillah

God work, it heiped me alot in my exams. Big up

Treasured Homes

I think education is at the top with anything like this. People aren’t aware of what biodiversity does to for us, so they just assume it’s a word BUT through effective campaigns via social media the younger generations will engage and they’ll learn far more too about what needs to be done to protect it!

Burcea Mihai

The first thing we must do is do educate our kids and talk to our friends about this problem. We can start using eco friendly cleaning products, food that is from natural farm. Choose the products that are not made with chimicals and other toxic mix for environment.

Michael Mbulu

Biodiversity plays a major role in our lives , but mostly in the lives of rural area,settlers without biodiversity the results are high poverty rate, and dependency, thus it is important for every individual to contribute to help maintain and sustain our biodiversity.

Claudette A Mitchel

What can be done to mitigate Light glare and light trespass that is expanding with newer infill and development? Nocturnal animals are challenged by thoughtless individuals and developers…..

Claris Barbin

I have seen a lot of people in most rural areas wherein I thought they are the ones who preserve the environment better than the ones who live in the Urban.Nevertheless, people in the rural places had been burning lots of plastics in a pit and no one could implement a rule stating how dangerous it could affect in our nature.I am determined to help and encourage these people that instead of burning their trashes there are lots of ways to recycle it and use it for the better and a way to protect our biodiversity.

thats good for the enviroment

Christine Pajes

i can do to protect our biodiversity by being a good and responsible person. I thought in the rural areas they are the ones who takes care the environment than the people in the urban areas. They are burning garbages such as plastics that can affect our ozone layer. If i were them instead of burning wastes, i will think of recycling it to become more useful. And it can be a money for them. I will encourage them that instead of burning it and leave it behind, there is a lot of ways to become more useful like recycle them. And use it for the best and it can be one of the things on how we can protect our biodiversity.

jeet

plz share dos and donts to conserve biodiversity

Haly Decano

To protect our biodiversity is to conserve natural resources. Like the urban areas they are the one who take care of their environment. While the rural areas are not taking care of their environment. They burn plastics and they dont recycle garbages. Instead of that doing that we need to consume electricity and recycle garbages so that we can help protect biodiversity. We must use products that can not harm the environment.

Otte Miriam

Also,a stable committee should be set-up that will check some of this companies that are in charge of the things concerning biodiversity. Inorder for them not to use chemicals that are harmful to the environment and contributing to the destruction of biodiversity.

Dwight Smith OnTray

Nice post! It’s really important to teach kids how to care for the environment. We should build up some idea on how both parents and educators can teach kids in a fun way.

cayde

i love that you are helping other kids learn about our environment.

Hunter

if we get rid of to meany forest the animals will die because they have no where to live

cheyeann sewell

if we took over the world how much would animals live in this world

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well us for one because we are mammals which are animals

Ali Al Rubaye

Since there is a rapid growth in the human population. We will just keep on destroying habitats and than there wouldn’t be much biodiversity left.

KAMERON

THE FORESTS ARE GETTING DESTROYED

Fatima

Yes I agree it’s a good one but I want to know how can technological tools help to prevent or reduce the identified loss of biodiversity?

Jaden

I agree that there needs to be something do to help our communities and the world not loos biodiversity. I also think that teaching are youth about ways they harm biodiversity and nature is very important.

will

I pledge to recycle, reuse and make better choices!!

chris

we need more biodiversity because it is the keystone to the planets well being .

Logan

We all play a part in protecting biodiversity. Even the little thing can go a long way.

bryan

i agree to make the world a better place by recycling

Ayse Hale BUlut

We should stop destroying thousands of species by building apartments in nature. We should stop using unhealthy gas.

east jefferson

The Energy Star labeling system is a very good system of identifying household products that are the most energy efficient. It is a shame that these products are tageted by their manufacturers to give them maximum profit margin, which is clearly putting potential customers off from buying them and this results in customers not gaining anything on a supposed return on investment, even after a lengthy time. Kind regards !

Brooklyn W.

That was a great article! People should start using more recyclable items because all of that trash is sent to the bottom of the ocean.

akihiro.lj

It is amazing how ecolabels are invented. Before, I didn’t really pay attention to those ecolabels since I didn’t know what are those for. But after reading the article, I realized that it is to protect and maintain our biodiversity. It is really important that we preserve our biodiversity because it is what gives us life. Without it, we won’t be able to live and have these materials that we need to survive.

Daryn W

Well written article!! I really enjoyed the paragraph on rainforest alliance. It saddens me very much that deforestation is such a big and recurring problem. I think we used only used recycled things. Get rid of plastic, and go all recycled paper. I al so think we should stop using trees for paper, and wood products. Dead trees are fine but some people use trees that are alive for their wood, and that needs to stop. They want to take down whole forests of trees, but dont want to take the time to grow one.

kenenisa wogair

I try to not used a lot of technology and used of energy consumption as well as water consumption. Maybe one day when I grow I will make a team that assembles and help protect animals habitat

Charlotte Fleet

I love how you mentioned that a great way to conserve biodiversity is to consume less natural resources. I think that it would also be beneficial to invest in a service that’s main focus is to help improve biodiversity in landscapes. Thank you so much for your article about biodiversity, Renee.

Danayla shazier

1.I can plant more tress

2.Tell others around me why it is important so they will do the same and or help

3.I will give water to the trees

4. I will clean up the surroundings

5.Stop puting pollution and gas everywhere

Guest

Our biodiversity is very important and it’s a good thing this blog gives us informative articles. Especially on how we can preserve it. Another great thing about this is we gather information and can be spread by many. This blog is one of the great ways I see to conserve our biodiversity. Lastly, it helps to call out others to be aware about what is happening in our biodiversity.

Henry Okafor

well structured and thought through the post, I believe, this will serve as a great guide to many in identifying with the support for biodiversity conservation.

Cameron

I love the artical saying that people realize that we are hurting biodiversity and doing something about it

kalen meadows

This an great article to read! I think biodiversity is important because it shows us how we are ruining the land for animals and plants if we could stop knocking down trees and ruining plants and animals homes maybe so many animals wouldn’t be going extinct.

marlin i maturano

great in bringing a incite to how we can better our foods. i shall try not to pollute any grounds at any costs.

Environment lover

Don’t just go on to leave a thumbs down life is beautiful if we did not have it we would not be here so appropriate your surroundings.

guadalupe madrigal

living organisms including ecosystem plant animals thier habitats and genes is fundamental to life and earth we need biodeversity

Destiny A.

I`ve always been connected to the biodiversity and nature and I understand the affects of human to earth but as us people we could keep our biodiversity by doing stuff that might help because biodiversity helps us in ways that we need to survive and we should help them too.

Elijiah W.M

This article is very informative. It has really showed that there are many things that help to try to preserve our planet.

Hasbula

great article

it contains a lot of information!

Samuel Abutal

I agree to feed the animal with organic foods.

Braylen Westmoreland

The Marine Stewardship council is a good organisation because its stopping fish species from dieing out by making a limit to fishing its will help fish and coral reefs from bottom fishing.

Zacary W Clark

Great article

alejandro cardenas

the way we can make a change is by not taking up homes of animals and polluting earth

Beatrice Williams

Good article i love how the author gave multiple points and you backed it up with stats and i agree that we should be more involved in trying to help our planet

Roberto

Interesting article! One way humans have affected biodiversity is by their population and by the use of land.

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Biodiversity - our strongest natural defense against climate change

Photocomposition: a butterfly on the tip of a branch, representing biodiversity

Biological diversity — or biodiversity — is the variety of life on Earth, in all its forms, from genes and bacteria to entire ecosystems such as forests or coral reefs. The biodiversity we see today is the result of 4.5 billion years of evolution, increasingly influenced by humans.

Biodiversity forms the web of life that we depend on for so many things – food, water, medicine, a stable climate, economic growth, among others. Over half of global GDP is dependent on nature. More than 1 billion people rely on forests for their livelihoods. And land and the ocean absorb more than half of all carbon emissions. 

But nature is in crisis. Up to one million species are threatened with extinction, many within decades. Irreplaceable ecosystems like parts of the Amazon rainforest are turning from carbon sinks into carbon sources due to deforestation. And 85 per cent of wetlands , such as salt marshes and mangrove swamps which absorb large amounts of carbon, have disappeared.   

How is climate change affecting biodiversity?  

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.  

But climate change is playing an increasingly important role in the decline of biodiversity. Climate change has altered marine, terrestrial, and freshwater ecosystems around the world. It has caused the loss of local species, increased diseases, and driven mass mortality of plants and animals, resulting in the first climate-driven extinctions.

On land, higher temperatures have forced animals and plants to move to higher elevations or higher latitudes, many moving towards the Earth’s poles, with far-reaching consequences for ecosystems. The risk of species extinction increases with every degree of warming.  

The Earth is feeling the heat.

In the ocean, rising temperatures increase the  risk of irreversible loss of marine and coastal ecosystems . Live coral reefs , for instance, have nearly halved in the past 150 years, and further warming threatens to destroy almost all remaining reefs.  

photocomposition: a turtle swimming in the ocean

Overall, climate change affects the health of ecosystems , influencing shifts in the distribution of plants, viruses, animals, and even human settlements. This can create increased opportunities for animals to spread diseases and for viruses to spill over to humans. Human health can also be affected by reduced ecosystem services, such as the loss of food, medicine and livelihoods provided by nature.   

Why is biodiversity essential for limiting climate change?  

When human activities produce greenhouse gases, around half of the emissions remain in the atmosphere, while the other half is  absorbed by the land and ocean . These ecosystems – and the biodiversity they contain – are natural carbon sinks, providing so-called nature-based solutions to climate change.

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.

Peatlands – wetlands such as marshes and swamps – cover only 3 per cent of the world’s land, but they store twice as much carbon as all the forests. Preserving and restoring peatlands means keeping them wet so the carbon doesn’t oxidize and float off into the atmosphere. 

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.

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. 

Is the UN tackling climate and biodiversity together?  

Climate change and biodiversity loss (as well as pollution) are part of an interlinked triple planetary crisis the world is facing today. They need to be tackled together if we are to advance the Sustainable Development Goals and secure a viable future on this planet.

The Earth is feeling the heat.

Governments deal with climate change and biodiversity through two different international agreements – the  UN Framework Convention on Climate Change  (UNFCCC) and the  UN Convention on Biological Diversity  (CBD), both established at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.

Similar to the historic  Paris Agreement  made in 2015 under the UNFCCC, parties to the Biodiversity Convention in December 2022 adopted an agreement for nature, known as the  Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework , which succeeds the  Aichi Biodiversity Targets  adopted in 2010.

The framework includes wide-ranging steps to tackle the causes of biodiversity loss worldwide, including climate change and pollution.

“An ambitious and effective post-2020 global biodiversity framework, with clear targets and benchmarks, can put nature and people back on track,”  the UN Secretary-General said , adding that, “this framework should work in synergy with the Paris Agreement on climate change and other multilateral agreements on forests, desertification and oceans.”

In December 2022,  governments met in Montreal, Canada  to agree on the new framework to secure an ambitious and transformative global plan to set humanity on a path to living in harmony with nature.

“Delivering on the framework will contribute to the climate agenda, while full delivery of the Paris Agreement is needed to allow the framework to succeed,”  said Inger Andersen , the head of the UN Environment Programme. “We can’t work in isolation if we are to end the triple planetary crises.”

Watch our  interview with Elizabeth Mrema , the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

Read the UN Secretary-General’s speech at the Countdown to COP15: Leaders Event for a Nature-Positive World in September 2022, and his remarks at the December 2022 Biodiversity Conference and Press Conference.  

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Climate issues

Learn more about how climate change impacts are felt across different sectors and ecosystems.

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Elizabeth Mrema: Protecting the world’s biodiversity

The Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Elizabeth Mrema, speaks about the interlinkages between climate change and biodiversity loss.

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Hindou Ibrahim: Living in harmony with nature

“Indigenous peoples are a solution, we are not only a victim of the climate change,” says SDG Advocate and Indigenous rights activists Hindou Ibrahim.

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Elliott Harris: Measure the value of nature – before it’s too late

UN Chief Economist Elliott Harris introduces a ground-breaking shift in valuing nature as a way of making more informed decisions about economies, climate action and the protection of biodiversity.

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The Ocean – the world’s greatest ally against climate change

The ocean is central to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. Here are a few reasons we need to safeguard the ocean as our best ally for climate solutions.

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Renewable energy – powering a safer future

Derived from natural resources that are abundant and continuously replenished, renewable energy is key to a safer, cleaner, and sustainable world.  Explore common sources of renewable energy here.

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Essay on Biodiversity 1000+ Words

Biodiversity, short for biological diversity, is a remarkable tapestry of life that blankets our planet. It encompasses the variety of living organisms, ecosystems, and habitats that make Earth a vibrant and thriving place. In this essay, we will delve into the importance of biodiversity, the threats it faces, and why we should protect it.

The Marvelous World of Biodiversity

Imagine a world without colorful flowers, buzzing bees, towering trees, or majestic tigers. Biodiversity is what makes our world so diverse and beautiful. It includes everything from tiny microbes in the soil to the largest whales in the ocean. Earth’s rich biodiversity provides us with essential resources, from food to medicine, and enriches our lives in countless ways.

The Benefits of Biodiversity

Biodiversity is not just about pretty landscapes and exotic animals; it plays a crucial role in sustaining life on Earth. It helps maintain a stable and healthy environment. For instance, forests with diverse tree species are better at absorbing carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. Biodiversity also supports pollinators like bees and butterflies, which are essential for our food supply. The more diverse our ecosystems, the more resilient they are to threats like diseases and extreme weather.

Food and Medicine

Biodiversity is the foundation of our food system. Different plant and animal species provide us with a wide range of foods, from fruits and vegetables to grains and meats. Moreover, many of the medicines we rely on come from plants and animals. For example, the bark of the willow tree gave us aspirin, and the Madagascar periwinkle plant provides a lifesaving medicine for cancer patients. Protecting biodiversity ensures that we have a diverse and healthy diet and access to essential medicines.

Cultural and Recreational Value

Biodiversity isn’t just about science and survival; it also enriches our cultures and leisure activities. Many indigenous communities around the world have deep cultural connections to the land and its diverse species. Biodiversity inspires art, literature, and music. Imagine a world without the fascinating stories of animals like the African elephant or the enchanting songs of birds like the nightingale. Biodiversity enhances our quality of life in ways we might not even realize.

Threats to Biodiversity

Despite its immense value, biodiversity is under threat. Human activities, such as deforestation, pollution, overfishing, and habitat destruction, are driving many species to the brink of extinction. Climate change, fueled by the burning of fossil fuels, poses another significant threat. Rising temperatures can disrupt ecosystems and push species out of their habitats. These threats not only endanger the creatures themselves but also disrupt the delicate balance of our planet.

Conservation Efforts

The good news is that people around the world are working hard to protect biodiversity. Conservation organizations, scientists, and governments are implementing measures to safeguard endangered species and preserve critical habitats. National parks and wildlife reserves provide safe havens for countless plants and animals. Additionally, there are international agreements like the Convention on Biological Diversity aimed at preserving biodiversity on a global scale.

What You Can Do

You, as a young environmental advocate, can also play a crucial role in protecting biodiversity. You can start by learning more about the species and ecosystems in your area. Participate in local conservation efforts, like planting trees or cleaning up parks. Reduce your environmental footprint by conserving water, reducing waste, and using energy-efficient appliances. Spread the word about the importance of biodiversity to inspire others to take action.

Conclusion of Essay on Biodiversity

In conclusion, biodiversity is a precious gift that we must cherish and protect. It sustains life on Earth, provides us with essential resources, and enriches our cultures and enjoyment of the natural world. However, it faces serious threats from human activities and climate change. By understanding the importance of biodiversity and taking action to conserve it, we can ensure a healthier and more vibrant planet for future generations. Let us celebrate the wonders of biodiversity and work together to safeguard the incredible diversity of life on Earth.

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The Importance of Protecting Endangered Animals

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Published: Mar 8, 2024

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Biodiversity and ecosystem health, threats to endangered animals, conservation efforts.

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protecting biodiversity essay

Greece plans 2 marine protected areas. But rival Turkey and environmental groups aren’t impressed

FILE - The multihued waters of the Aegean Sea sparkle by the islet of Kounoupa off the island of Astypalea, Greece, on Aug. 30, 2021. Greece aims to create two large marine parks as part of a 780 million euro program to protect biodiversity and marine ecosystems, with the plans to be formally announced at an international oceans conference starting in Athens Tuesday. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell'Orto, File)

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Greece aims to create two large marine parks as part of a 780-million-euro ($830 million) program to protect biodiversity and marine ecosystems that includes banning bottom trawling and tackling plastic and microplastic pollution, the prime minister announced during an international oceans conference Tuesday.

But the plan for the marine parks has irked Greece’s neighbor and regional rival, Turkey, while environmental organizations say the initiative doesn’t go far enough, noting that the country also allows environmentally harmful practices such as energy exploration in sensitive marine environments.

“The ocean has paid a heavy price for its service to humankind. It has been a vital source of life and livelihood. We have not been kind to it in return,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a speech at the Our Ocean Conference in Athens “So we meet today with a new sense of urgency. Our world is changing faster than our capacity to adapt to change. And this is creating immense pressures: political, economic, physical and social.”

The creation of the new marine parks, one in the Ionian Sea and one in the Aegean Sea, will increase the size of Greece’s marine protected areas by 80% and will cover 30% of the country’s territorial waters, Mitsotakis said. Greece has thousands of islands and islets, and one of the longest coastlines in the Mediterranean.

Bottom trawling will be banned in all marine protected areas by 2030, while a surveillance system using drones, satellites and artificial intelligence will be set up by 2026 to patrol the areas, the prime minister said. He also pledged that by 2030, Greece will reduce plastic pollution in the water by 50% and microplastics by 30% compared to 2019 levels.

About 300 representatives from more than 100 countries and international organizations are participating, Greek government officials said, with announcements set for new commitments amounting to about $10 billion for environment-related projects.

But environmental organizations have called for stronger commitments.

Under a slogan of “the sea is not for sale,” Greenpeace urged leaders attending the conference to take concrete measures to protect marine environments.

The conference “must not be simply an opportunity for governments to congratulate themselves for what they have said until now,” said Nikos Charalambidis, head of Greenpeace in Greece.

Police banned a planned protest at the venue by environmental organizations. About 20 protesters turned up at a nearby location holding banners calling for an end to deep-sea mining and for the protection of the seas.

Greenpeace, the World Wildlife Fund and other organizations have long leveled particular criticism at Greece for allowing deep-sea seismic exploration for energy and mineral resources in the Hellenic Trench , which includes the deepest waters in the Mediterranean at more than 5,200 meters (17,300 feet).

The trench, which stretches from southwestern Greece to Crete, is a vital habitat for the Mediterranean’s few hundred sperm whales and other marine mammals already threatened by fishing, ship collisions and plastic pollution.

Asked whether the Greek government planned to extend protection to the entirety of the Hellenic Trench, Theodoros Skylakakis, Greece’s minister for both the environment and energy, stressed that adapting to a green economy requires significant funds over the coming decades.

“We need to be a lot more efficient in everything we do. And not trigger our reaction by ideology but rather trigger it by science, by efficiency and by investment,” Skylakakis said. “And for that, we will need money. If anybody thinks we can meet this challenge of paying for the adaptation … and at the same time don’t have economic growth, they don’t live in this world.”

Greece’s plan for the two marine parks also has irked Turkey. When the plan was aired last week, Turkey’s foreign ministry accused Athens of exploiting environmental issues to push its geopolitical agenda. The countries, both NATO members, have been at odds for decades over a variety of issues, including territorial claims in the Aegean, and have reached the brink of war three times in the last 50 years.

Relations have improved somewhat over the past year following a period of heightened tensions that saw the countries’ warships face off in the eastern Mediterranean. But Ankara responded with annoyance to Greece’s plan for a marine park in the Agean.

“It is known that Greece has long been trying to benefit from almost every platform in the context of Aegean problems,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. “Despite the recent softening in our relations, it appears that Greece is exploiting environmental issues this time.”

Greece’s foreign ministry retorted that Ankara was “politicizing a clearly environmental issue.”

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Greece plans 2 marine protected areas. But rival Turkey and environmental groups aren't impressed

ATHENS, Greece — Greece aims to create two large marine parks as part of a 780-million-euro ($830 million) program to protect biodiversity and marine ecosystems that includes banning bottom trawling and tackling plastic and microplastic pollution, the prime minister announced during an international oceans conference Tuesday.

But the plan for the marine parks has irked Greece’s neighbor and regional rival, Turkey, while environmental organizations say the initiative doesn’t go far enough, noting that the country also allows environmentally harmful practices such as energy exploration in sensitive marine environments.

“The ocean has paid a heavy price for its service to humankind. It has been a vital source of life and livelihood. We have not been kind to it in return,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a speech at the Our Ocean Conference in Athens “So we meet today with a new sense of urgency. Our world is changing faster than our capacity to adapt to change. And this is creating immense pressures: political, economic, physical and social.”

The creation of the new marine parks, one in the Ionian Sea and one in the Aegean Sea, will increase the size of Greece’s marine protected areas by 80% and will cover 30% of the country’s territorial waters, Mitsotakis said. Greece has thousands of islands and islets, and one of the longest coastlines in the Mediterranean.

Bottom trawling will be banned in all marine protected areas by 2030, while a surveillance system using drones, satellites and artificial intelligence will be set up by 2026 to patrol the areas, the prime minister said. He also pledged that by 2030, Greece will reduce plastic pollution in the water by 50% and microplastics by 30% compared to 2019 levels.

About 300 representatives from more than 100 countries and international organizations are participating, Greek government officials said, with announcements set for new commitments amounting to about $10 billion for environment-related projects.

But environmental organizations have called for stronger commitments.

Under a slogan of “the sea is not for sale,” Greenpeace urged leaders attending the conference to take concrete measures to protect marine environments.

The conference “must not be simply an opportunity for governments to congratulate themselves for what they have said until now,” said Nikos Charalambidis, head of Greenpeace in Greece.

Police banned a planned protest at the venue by environmental organizations. About 20 protesters turned up at a nearby location holding banners calling for an end to deep-sea mining and for the protection of the seas.

Greenpeace, the World Wildlife Fund and other organizations have long leveled particular criticism at Greece for allowing deep-sea seismic exploration for energy and mineral resources in the Hellenic Trench , which includes the deepest waters in the Mediterranean at more than 5,200 meters (17,300 feet).

The trench, which stretches from southwestern Greece to Crete, is a vital habitat for the Mediterranean’s few hundred sperm whales and other marine mammals already threatened by fishing, ship collisions and plastic pollution.

Asked whether the Greek government planned to extend protection to the entirety of the Hellenic Trench, Theodoros Skylakakis, Greece’s minister for both the environment and energy, stressed that adapting to a green economy requires significant funds over the coming decades.

“We need to be a lot more efficient in everything we do. And not trigger our reaction by ideology but rather trigger it by science, by efficiency and by investment,” Skylakakis said. “And for that, we will need money. If anybody thinks we can meet this challenge of paying for the adaptation … and at the same time don’t have economic growth, they don’t live in this world.”

Greece’s plan for the two marine parks also has irked Turkey. When the plan was aired last week, Turkey’s foreign ministry accused Athens of exploiting environmental issues to push its geopolitical agenda. The countries, both NATO members, have been at odds for decades over a variety of issues, including territorial claims in the Aegean, and have reached the brink of war three times in the last 50 years.

Relations have improved somewhat over the past year following a period of heightened tensions that saw the countries’ warships face off in the eastern Mediterranean. But Ankara responded with annoyance to Greece’s plan for a marine park in the Agean.

“It is known that Greece has long been trying to benefit from almost every platform in the context of Aegean problems,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. “Despite the recent softening in our relations, it appears that Greece is exploiting environmental issues this time.”

Greece’s foreign ministry retorted that Ankara was “politicizing a clearly environmental issue.”

protecting biodiversity essay

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Greece plans 2 marine protected areas. But rival Turkey and environmental groups aren’t impressed

FILE - The multihued waters of the Aegean Sea sparkle by the islet of Kounoupa off the island of Astypalea, Greece, on Aug. 30, 2021. Greece aims to create two large marine parks as part of a 780 million euro program to protect biodiversity and marine ecosystems, with the plans to be formally announced at an international oceans conference starting in Athens Tuesday. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell'Orto, File)

FILE - The multihued waters of the Aegean Sea sparkle by the islet of Kounoupa off the island of Astypalea, Greece, on Aug. 30, 2021. Greece aims to create two large marine parks as part of a 780 million euro program to protect biodiversity and marine ecosystems, with the plans to be formally announced at an international oceans conference starting in Athens Tuesday. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto, File)

FILE - In this Monday, May 25, 2020 photo, medical staff in a dinghy leaves from the Aegean Sea island of Milos to Sikinos island, Greece. Greece aims to create two large marine parks as part of a 780 million euro program to protect biodiversity and marine ecosystems, with the plans to be formally announced at an international oceans conference starting in Athens Tuesday. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis, File)

FILE - A boy dives into the sea from an old dock on the Aegean Sea island of Milos, Greece, Sunday, May 24, 2020. Greece aims to create two large marine parks as part of a 780 million euro program to protect biodiversity and marine ecosystems, with the plans to be formally announced at an international oceans conference starting in Athens Tuesday. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis, File)

People walk on the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center’s square during the ‘Our Ocean Conference’ in Athens, Greece, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. Greece aims to create two large marine parks as part of a 780 million euro ($830 million) program to protect biodiversity and marine ecosystems, with the plans to be formally announced at an international oceans conference starting in Athens Tuesday. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)

People walk in front of an ‘Our Ocean’ sign during the ‘Our Ocean Conference’ at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens, Greece, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. Greece aims to create two large marine parks as part of a 780 million euro ($830 million) program to protect biodiversity and marine ecosystems, with the plans to be formally announced at an international oceans conference starting in Athens Tuesday. (AP Photo/Michael Varaklas)

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ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece aims to create two large marine parks as part of a 780-million-euro ($830 million) program to protect biodiversity and marine ecosystems that includes banning bottom trawling and tackling plastic and microplastic pollution, the prime minister announced during an international oceans conference Tuesday.

But the plan for the marine parks has irked Greece’s neighbor and regional rival, Turkey, while environmental organizations say the initiative doesn’t go far enough, noting that the country also allows environmentally harmful practices such as energy exploration in sensitive marine environments.

“The ocean has paid a heavy price for its service to humankind. It has been a vital source of life and livelihood. We have not been kind to it in return,” Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in a speech at the Our Ocean Conference in Athens “So we meet today with a new sense of urgency. Our world is changing faster than our capacity to adapt to change. And this is creating immense pressures: political, economic, physical and social.”

The creation of the new marine parks, one in the Ionian Sea and one in the Aegean Sea, will increase the size of Greece’s marine protected areas by 80% and will cover 30% of the country’s territorial waters, Mitsotakis said. Greece has thousands of islands and islets, and one of the longest coastlines in the Mediterranean.

A sheet of Greek stamps showing Baron Pierre de Coubertin and his memorial in Olympia are seen in the Philatelic and Postal Museum , Ministry of Digital Governance in Athens, on Thursday, April 11, 2024. The Greek stamps showing the French Baron were issued in 1971, for the 75th anniversary of the first modern Olympic games in Athens in 1896.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

Bottom trawling will be banned in all marine protected areas by 2030, while a surveillance system using drones, satellites and artificial intelligence will be set up by 2026 to patrol the areas, the prime minister said. He also pledged that by 2030, Greece will reduce plastic pollution in the water by 50% and microplastics by 30% compared to 2019 levels.

About 300 representatives from more than 100 countries and international organizations are participating, Greek government officials said, with announcements set for new commitments amounting to about $10 billion for environment-related projects.

But environmental organizations have called for stronger commitments.

Under a slogan of “the sea is not for sale,” Greenpeace urged leaders attending the conference to take concrete measures to protect marine environments.

The conference “must not be simply an opportunity for governments to congratulate themselves for what they have said until now,” said Nikos Charalambidis, head of Greenpeace in Greece.

Police banned a planned protest at the venue by environmental organizations. About 20 protesters turned up at a nearby location holding banners calling for an end to deep-sea mining and for the protection of the seas.

Greenpeace, the World Wildlife Fund and other organizations have long leveled particular criticism at Greece for allowing deep-sea seismic exploration for energy and mineral resources in the Hellenic Trench , which includes the deepest waters in the Mediterranean at more than 5,200 meters (17,300 feet).

The trench, which stretches from southwestern Greece to Crete, is a vital habitat for the Mediterranean’s few hundred sperm whales and other marine mammals already threatened by fishing, ship collisions and plastic pollution.

Asked whether the Greek government planned to extend protection to the entirety of the Hellenic Trench, Theodoros Skylakakis, Greece’s minister for both the environment and energy, stressed that adapting to a green economy requires significant funds over the coming decades.

“We need to be a lot more efficient in everything we do. And not trigger our reaction by ideology but rather trigger it by science, by efficiency and by investment,” Skylakakis said. “And for that, we will need money. If anybody thinks we can meet this challenge of paying for the adaptation … and at the same time don’t have economic growth, they don’t live in this world.”

Greece’s plan for the two marine parks also has irked Turkey. When the plan was aired last week, Turkey’s foreign ministry accused Athens of exploiting environmental issues to push its geopolitical agenda. The countries, both NATO members, have been at odds for decades over a variety of issues, including territorial claims in the Aegean, and have reached the brink of war three times in the last 50 years.

Relations have improved somewhat over the past year following a period of heightened tensions that saw the countries’ warships face off in the eastern Mediterranean. But Ankara responded with annoyance to Greece’s plan for a marine park in the Agean.

“It is known that Greece has long been trying to benefit from almost every platform in the context of Aegean problems,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. “Despite the recent softening in our relations, it appears that Greece is exploiting environmental issues this time.”

Greece’s foreign ministry retorted that Ankara was “politicizing a clearly environmental issue.”

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NPR defends its journalism after senior editor says it has lost the public's trust

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David Folkenflik

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NPR is defending its journalism and integrity after a senior editor wrote an essay accusing it of losing the public's trust. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

NPR is defending its journalism and integrity after a senior editor wrote an essay accusing it of losing the public's trust.

NPR's top news executive defended its journalism and its commitment to reflecting a diverse array of views on Tuesday after a senior NPR editor wrote a broad critique of how the network has covered some of the most important stories of the age.

"An open-minded spirit no longer exists within NPR, and now, predictably, we don't have an audience that reflects America," writes Uri Berliner.

A strategic emphasis on diversity and inclusion on the basis of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation, promoted by NPR's former CEO, John Lansing, has fed "the absence of viewpoint diversity," Berliner writes.

NPR's chief news executive, Edith Chapin, wrote in a memo to staff Tuesday afternoon that she and the news leadership team strongly reject Berliner's assessment.

"We're proud to stand behind the exceptional work that our desks and shows do to cover a wide range of challenging stories," she wrote. "We believe that inclusion — among our staff, with our sourcing, and in our overall coverage — is critical to telling the nuanced stories of this country and our world."

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She added, "None of our work is above scrutiny or critique. We must have vigorous discussions in the newsroom about how we serve the public as a whole."

A spokesperson for NPR said Chapin, who also serves as the network's chief content officer, would have no further comment.

Praised by NPR's critics

Berliner is a senior editor on NPR's Business Desk. (Disclosure: I, too, am part of the Business Desk, and Berliner has edited many of my past stories. He did not see any version of this article or participate in its preparation before it was posted publicly.)

Berliner's essay , titled "I've Been at NPR for 25 years. Here's How We Lost America's Trust," was published by The Free Press, a website that has welcomed journalists who have concluded that mainstream news outlets have become reflexively liberal.

Berliner writes that as a Subaru-driving, Sarah Lawrence College graduate who "was raised by a lesbian peace activist mother ," he fits the mold of a loyal NPR fan.

Yet Berliner says NPR's news coverage has fallen short on some of the most controversial stories of recent years, from the question of whether former President Donald Trump colluded with Russia in the 2016 election, to the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19, to the significance and provenance of emails leaked from a laptop owned by Hunter Biden weeks before the 2020 election. In addition, he blasted NPR's coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

On each of these stories, Berliner asserts, NPR has suffered from groupthink due to too little diversity of viewpoints in the newsroom.

The essay ricocheted Tuesday around conservative media , with some labeling Berliner a whistleblower . Others picked it up on social media, including Elon Musk, who has lambasted NPR for leaving his social media site, X. (Musk emailed another NPR reporter a link to Berliner's article with a gibe that the reporter was a "quisling" — a World War II reference to someone who collaborates with the enemy.)

When asked for further comment late Tuesday, Berliner declined, saying the essay spoke for itself.

The arguments he raises — and counters — have percolated across U.S. newsrooms in recent years. The #MeToo sexual harassment scandals of 2016 and 2017 forced newsrooms to listen to and heed more junior colleagues. The social justice movement prompted by the killing of George Floyd in 2020 inspired a reckoning in many places. Newsroom leaders often appeared to stand on shaky ground.

Leaders at many newsrooms, including top editors at The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times , lost their jobs. Legendary Washington Post Executive Editor Martin Baron wrote in his memoir that he feared his bonds with the staff were "frayed beyond repair," especially over the degree of self-expression his journalists expected to exert on social media, before he decided to step down in early 2021.

Since then, Baron and others — including leaders of some of these newsrooms — have suggested that the pendulum has swung too far.

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New York Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger warned last year against journalists embracing a stance of what he calls "one-side-ism": "where journalists are demonstrating that they're on the side of the righteous."

"I really think that that can create blind spots and echo chambers," he said.

Internal arguments at The Times over the strength of its reporting on accusations that Hamas engaged in sexual assaults as part of a strategy for its Oct. 7 attack on Israel erupted publicly . The paper conducted an investigation to determine the source of a leak over a planned episode of the paper's podcast The Daily on the subject, which months later has not been released. The newsroom guild accused the paper of "targeted interrogation" of journalists of Middle Eastern descent.

Heated pushback in NPR's newsroom

Given Berliner's account of private conversations, several NPR journalists question whether they can now trust him with unguarded assessments about stories in real time. Others express frustration that he had not sought out comment in advance of publication. Berliner acknowledged to me that for this story, he did not seek NPR's approval to publish the piece, nor did he give the network advance notice.

Some of Berliner's NPR colleagues are responding heatedly. Fernando Alfonso, a senior supervising editor for digital news, wrote that he wholeheartedly rejected Berliner's critique of the coverage of the Israel-Hamas conflict, for which NPR's journalists, like their peers, periodically put themselves at risk.

Alfonso also took issue with Berliner's concern over the focus on diversity at NPR.

"As a person of color who has often worked in newsrooms with little to no people who look like me, the efforts NPR has made to diversify its workforce and its sources are unique and appropriate given the news industry's long-standing lack of diversity," Alfonso says. "These efforts should be celebrated and not denigrated as Uri has done."

After this story was first published, Berliner contested Alfonso's characterization, saying his criticism of NPR is about the lack of diversity of viewpoints, not its diversity itself.

"I never criticized NPR's priority of achieving a more diverse workforce in terms of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. I have not 'denigrated' NPR's newsroom diversity goals," Berliner said. "That's wrong."

Questions of diversity

Under former CEO John Lansing, NPR made increasing diversity, both of its staff and its audience, its "North Star" mission. Berliner says in the essay that NPR failed to consider broader diversity of viewpoint, noting, "In D.C., where NPR is headquartered and many of us live, I found 87 registered Democrats working in editorial positions and zero Republicans."

Berliner cited audience estimates that suggested a concurrent falloff in listening by Republicans. (The number of people listening to NPR broadcasts and terrestrial radio broadly has declined since the start of the pandemic.)

Former NPR vice president for news and ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin tweeted , "I know Uri. He's not wrong."

Others questioned Berliner's logic. "This probably gets causality somewhat backward," tweeted Semafor Washington editor Jordan Weissmann . "I'd guess that a lot of NPR listeners who voted for [Mitt] Romney have changed how they identify politically."

Similarly, Nieman Lab founder Joshua Benton suggested the rise of Trump alienated many NPR-appreciating Republicans from the GOP.

In recent years, NPR has greatly enhanced the percentage of people of color in its workforce and its executive ranks. Four out of 10 staffers are people of color; nearly half of NPR's leadership team identifies as Black, Asian or Latino.

"The philosophy is: Do you want to serve all of America and make sure it sounds like all of America, or not?" Lansing, who stepped down last month, says in response to Berliner's piece. "I'd welcome the argument against that."

"On radio, we were really lagging in our representation of an audience that makes us look like what America looks like today," Lansing says. The U.S. looks and sounds a lot different than it did in 1971, when NPR's first show was broadcast, Lansing says.

A network spokesperson says new NPR CEO Katherine Maher supports Chapin and her response to Berliner's critique.

The spokesperson says that Maher "believes that it's a healthy thing for a public service newsroom to engage in rigorous consideration of the needs of our audiences, including where we serve our mission well and where we can serve it better."

Disclosure: This story was reported and written by NPR Media Correspondent David Folkenflik and edited by Deputy Business Editor Emily Kopp and Managing Editor Gerry Holmes. Under NPR's protocol for reporting on itself, no NPR corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.

protecting biodiversity essay

NPR suspends senior editor Uri Berliner after essay accusing outlet of liberal bias

N PR has suspended a senior editor who authored an essay published last week on an online news site in which he argued that the network had "lost America's trust" because of a liberal bias in its coverage, the outlet reported.

Uri Berliner was suspended Friday for five days without pay, NPR reported Tuesday . The revelation came exactly a week after Berliner publicly claimed in an essay for The Free Press, an online news publication, that NPR had allowed a "liberal bent" to influence its coverage, causing the outlet to steadily lose credibility with audiences.

The essay reignited the criticism that many prominent conservatives have long leveled against NPR and prompted newsroom leadership to implement monthly internal reviews of the network's coverage, NPR reported. Berliner's essay also angered many of his colleagues and exposed NPR's new chief executive Katherine Maher to a string of attacks from conservatives over her past social media posts.

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In a statement Monday to NPR, Maher refuted Berliner's claims by underscoring NPR's commitment to objective coverage of national issues.

"In America everyone is entitled to free speech as a private citizen," Maher said. "What matters is NPR's work and my commitment as its CEO: public service, editorial independence, and the mission to serve all of the American public. NPR is independent, beholden to no party, and without commercial interests."

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Berliner rails against NPR's coverage of COVID-19, diversity efforts

Berliner, a senior business editor who has worked at NPR for 25 years, argued in the Free Press essay that “people at every level of NPR have comfortably coalesced around the progressive worldview.”

While he claimed that NPR has always had a "liberal bent" ever since he was hired at the outlet, he wrote that it has since lost its "open-minded spirit," and, hence, "an audience that reflects America."

The Peabody Award-winning journalist highlighted what he viewed as examples of the network's partisan coverage of several major news events, including the origins of COVID-19 and the war in Gaza . Berliner also lambasted NPR's diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies – as reflected both within its newsroom and in its coverage – as making race and identity "paramount in nearly every aspect of the workplace.”

"All this reflected a broader movement in the culture of people clustering together based on ideology or a characteristic of birth," he wrote.

Uri Berliner's essay fuels conservative attacks on NPR

In response to the essay, many prominent conservatives and Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, launched renewed attacks at NPR for what they perceive as partisan coverage.

Conservative activist Christopher Rufo in particular targeted Maher for messages she posted to social media years before joining the network – her  first at a news organization . Among the posts singled out were  a 2020 tweet that called Trump racist .

Trump reiterated on his social media platform, Truth Social, his longstanding argument that NPR’s government funding should be rescinded.

NPR issues formal rebuke to Berliner

Berliner provided an NPR reporter with a copy of the formal rebuke for review in which the organization told the editor he had not been approved to write for other news outlets, as is required of NPR journalists.

NPR also said he publicly released confidential proprietary information about audience demographics, the outlet reported.

Leadership said the letter was a "final warning" for Berliner, who would be fired for future violations of NPR's policies, according to NPR's reporting. Berliner, who is a dues-paying member of NPR's newsroom union, told the NPR reporter that he is not appealing the punishment.

A spokeswoman for NPR said the outlet declined to comment on Berliner's essay or the news of his suspension when reached Tuesday by USA TODAY.

"NPR does not comment on individual personnel matters, including discipline," according to the statement. "We expect all of our employees to comply with NPR policies and procedures, which for our editorial staff includes the NPR Ethics Handbook ."

NPR staffer express dismay; leadership puts coverage reviews in place

According to the NPR article, Berliner's essay also invoked the ire of many of his colleagues and the reporters whose stories he would be responsible for editing.

"Newsrooms run on trust," NPR political correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben said in a post last week on social media site X, though he didn't mention Berliner by name. "If you violate everyone's trust by going to another outlet and [expletive] on your colleagues (while doing a bad job journalistically, for that matter), I don't know how you do your job now."

Amid the fallout, NPR reported that NPR's chief news executive Edith Chapin announced to the newsroom late Monday afternoon that Executive Editor Eva Rodriguez would lead monthly meetings to review coverage.

Berliner expressed no regrets about publishing the essay in an interview with NPR, adding that he tried repeatedly to make his concerns over NPR's coverage known to news leaders.

"I love NPR and feel it's a national trust," Berliner says. "We have great journalists here. If they shed their opinions and did the great journalism they're capable of, this would be a much more interesting and fulfilling organization for our listeners."

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NPR suspends senior editor Uri Berliner after essay accusing outlet of liberal bias

A view of the National Public Radio (NPR) headquarters on North Capitol Street February 22, 2023 in Washington, DC. The broadcaster has suspended senior editor Uri Berliner after he authored an essay last week for The Free Press accusing his employer of liberal bias.

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