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Wednesday, April 14, 2010

United Nations Year of Biodiversity

The United Nations declared 2010 to be the Year of Biodiversity. It is a celebration of life on earth and of the value of biodiversity in our lives. Each and every one of us is and integral part of nature. Our lives are linked to biodiversity and the variety of animal and plant species, including the places they live.

We rely on their diversity of life to provide us with the food, fuel, medicine and other essentials that we cannot live without. Yet the rich diversity of our world is being lost at an accelerated pace due to human activities. There is no corner of the earth that man hasn't touched in some way and sadly, that man hasn't attempted to exploit.

The definition of biodiversity is the term that is given to the variety of life on Earth and the natural patterns they form. This biodiversity forms the web of life for all species including those we depend on for our survival.

Biodiversity also includes genetic differences within each species - for example, between varieties of crops and breeds of livestock. Another aspect of biodiversity is the variety of ecosystems such as: deserts, forests, wetlands, mountains, lakes, rivers, and agricultural landscapes. In each ecosystem, living creatures, including humans, form a community, which interact with one another and with the air, water, and soil around them.

It is very important that we conserve and protect the things that we rely on to survive. This would include our fresh water supply, clean air, productive farmland and the biodiversity of our forestland. All of these things are related. We can not protect our water supply without protecting our forests and wetlands. We can not protect biodiversity without protecting the animals of our forests and having productive farmland. Everything is equal and everything is related.

The loss of biodiversity threatens our food supplies, opportunities for recreation and tourism, and sources of wood, medicines and energy. While the loss of individual species catches our attention, it is the degradation and loss of forests, wetlands, coral reefs, and other ecosystems that is the gravest threat to biodiversity. Forests are home for much of the known tree, plant and animal biodiversity, but about 45 per cent of the Earth's original forests are gone, mostly cleared during the last century.

Unsustainable use of our ecosystems and the over-exploitation of our forests continue to be a major threat. Many species of trees, plants and animals from the forestland are used by humans to fulfill basic needs. These species are in a state of decline because they are being used at unsustainable levels or are being harvested in such a way that threatens the ecosystems on which they depend.
The website for the year of biodiversity can be found at: http://www.cbd.int/2010/welcome/ .

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