Biodiversity: Some Facts
What is biodiversity? Biodiversity is the measure of the number, variety and variability of living organisms. It includes diversity within species, between species, and among ecosystems. Biodiversity is everywhere, both on land and in water. It includes all organisms, from microscopic bacteria to more complex plants and animals.
Why is biodiversity important? Tasty food and essential medicine, fresh air and clean water, protection from natural disasters and the pleasure of walking through a forest in spring time: without biodiversity, our lives would look a lot bleaker. Biodiversity plays a fundamental role in the way the natural world functions and in the many services it provides, from nutrient and water cycling, to regulation of climate, to pollination of plants, to pest and pollution control by ecosystems. Biodiversity loss threatens the livelihood and well-being of every one of us.
What are the current trends in biodiversity? Human actions are contributing to irreversible losses in terms of diversity of life on Earth. While species extinction is a natural part of life on Earth, human activity has increased the extinction rate by at least 100 and possibly as much as 1000 times compared to the natural rate. Biodiversity loss has been more rapid in the past 50 years than at any time in human history and is expected to continue at the same pace or even to accelerate. Urgent action is needed to put a stop to current trends.
What is the 2010 Biodiversity Target?
In April 2002, the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity committed themselves “to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on Earth.”
Subsequently endorsed by the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the United Nations General Assembly, and incorporated as a new target under the Millennium Development Goals, the 2010 biodiversity target has been committed to at the highest political level.
