#12/15 What is biodiversity?
How does planet Earth work?
When we try to define biodiversity, we run into problems. The easiest way to describe it, is the total health of our biosphere. If we are healthy, we feel good and live longer. We don’t need to define health to strive for that! Because our health and the planet are connected, biodiversity comes from the combined behaviour of all animals on Earth.
Biodiversity conservation is learning to behave in a healthier way, by preserving the structures and function of everything that keeps ecosystems stable and habitable for people and other animals. It’s about ensuring there is enough diversity of animals to keep plant waste under control and minimise pollution.
Biodiversity is not the number of animals – try telling an Inuit from the Canadian Arctic that their country isn’t important because it has fewer animals than tropical rainforest.
The fact is, we are all important. We are the most powerful organisms to ever exist and our individual actions define the health of our planet. But we cannot protect biodiversity alone. We share this responsibility with an abundance of all other animals.
Biodiversity conservation is in everybody’s hands because we’re all animals. What binds us all together is the need for a favourable climate, as that is the stability we create. We can only continue our role in stabilising Earth if we can feed ourselves, because how we eat defines us. If we are wise, it is how we play our role in absorbing energy and keeping ecosystems healthy.
