Ecology-and-environment / Biodiversity & Biodiversity Conservation / Significance of Biodiversity
Significance of Biodiversity
- Biodiversity is fundamental to the existence of life on the earth. Its significance cannotbe underestimated. There are varieties of living things that exist in a given physicalenvironment. These are interdependent and interrelated in the form of an ecosystem.The nature of vegetation in any area determines the animallife. When the vegetation of a place is altered, animal life also changes andsimultaneously it affects mankind.Loss of any component in the system adverselyaffects other components of the system.
- Biodiversity ensures health and food security:Biodiversity underpins global nutrition and food security. Millions of species work together to provide us with a large array of fruits, vegetables and animal products essential to a healthy, balanced diet – but they are increasingly under threat.
- Biodiversity helps fight disease: Higher rates of biodiversity have been linked to an increase in human health.
- First, plants are essential for medicines. For example, 25% of drugs used in modern medicine are derived from rainforest plants while 70% of cancer drugs are natural or synthetic products inspired by nature. This means that every time a species goes extinct, we miss out on a potential new medicine.
- Second, biodiversity due to protected natural areas has been linked to lower instances of disease such as Lyme disease and malaria.
- Biodiversity benefits business:According to the World Economic Forum’s recent Nature Risk Rising Report, more than half of the world’s GDP ($44 trillion) is highly or moderately dependent on nature. Many businesses are, therefore, at risk due to increasing nature loss.
- Biodiversity provides livelihoods:Humans derive approximately $125 trillion of value from natural ecosystems each year. Globally, three out of four jobs are dependent on water while the agricultural sector employs over 60% of the world’s working poor. In the Global South, forests are the source of livelihoods for over 1.6 billion people. In India, forest ecosystems contribute only 7% to India’s GDP yet 57% of rural Indian communities’ livelihoods.
- Biodiversity protects us:Biodiversity makes the earth habitable. Biodiverse ecosystems provide nature-based solutions that buffer us from natural disasters such as floods and storms, filter our water and regenerate our soils.
