Importance
Why should you care?
For some time it appeared that the diverse ecosystems we find on Earth would stay forever. To some extent, it may still seem so. However, we’re starting to see that these ecosystems are more vulnerable than we thought, and may even collapse. Without any huge catastrophic event – e.g. a large meteor hitting our planet – a jungle can turn into a desert, or a coral reef can become a pile of rocks.
The factor which has the largest impact on reducing this risk is biodiversity[60]. The higher the biodiversity, the more resistant the ecosystem is when facing disease, climate change, or any other sudden event. Each species plays a different role in the maintenance of the ecosystem. Through these links, they provide stability to one another and to the ecosystem as a whole. The genetic diversity within each species reinforces this stability, allowing them to cope better with change.
“Biodiversity is life on Earth, and every extinction chips away at it, undermining the stability of the planet”
- Olivier Langrand
Biodiversity is the earth's own safety net [60].
If a species disappears, a part of the ecosystem’s stability net is destroyed. In some cases, taking away only one important component is enough to have a large impact on the ecosystem it belongs to. This is called a keystone species [9]. A great example is the coral reef. The corals provide food, habitat, shelter, and breeding spots for thousands of species. By a loss or weakening of corals, all species depending on it are also in danger [60].
It can be easy to think that damage to certain ecosystems doesn’t concern you. For instance, if you live in the Netherlands, hearing about the problems of the Great Barrier Reef may not seem to have such a direct impact on you and your environment. However, all these ecosystems are woven into one large ecosystem: Earth. Earth is one big ecosystem where all species are interdependent. Harm one and the rest are instantly at risk.
We, humans, are involved in biodiversity too. We rely on biodiversity for providing us with life-sustaining goods and services, and it is an important resource for medical research [48]. The loss of biodiversity represents a direct threat to our health and well-being. Nils van Rooijen – a Dutch ecologist and vegetation scientist – adds the point that biodiversity is of equal importance for both nature conservation and agricultural practices. We need genetic diversity, insects for pollination, and macro and microfauna to fertilize the soil.
Biodiversity is the foundation for human health. Without a global environment that is healthy and capable of supporting a diversity of life, no human population can exist [48]
- Cooperation of Health and Biodiversity
Even though it is difficult to correctly anticipate future species loss, the worst case scenario
certainly looks grim. Since the beginning of the 90’s already more than 50% of the corals in the Great Barrier Reef have died. In the past 30 years, there has been a 75% decrease in the biomass of insects in Europe, and a general decrease on our planet. Some believe that we’re approaching the 6th mass extinction in the history of our planet, the previous being the last dinosaurs 65 million years ago [34] . Cut too many links and we risk undoing the whole safety net, not knowing what this will mean for us or for our planet in general.
We do know however that extinction is a one-way road. Once the last Javan rhino has been slaughtered, the last Siberian tiger hunted down, and the last polar bear drowned, there is no going back.