It is time to care for nature and preserve ecosystems. We are still in time to reverse the loss of biological diversity, we must understand that it is the only way to restore and maintain a healthy planet, and the lives we find on this Earth.
Taking into account that we are currently facing a complex network of environmental problems and conflicts, often the result of not considering the characteristics of the natural systems that make up the environment.
Biodiversity has an intrinsic value independent of the needs of human beings. Likewise, it supports most human activities and the basis of a wide variety of environmental goods and services that contribute to social well-being. It supplies raw materials, food, water, medicines, construction materials, fuel, among many others. It also provides ecological services related to ecosystem functions such as climate regulation, carbon dioxide fixation, restoration of soil fertility, flood mitigation and waste decomposition. It also makes a fundamental contribution to maintaining the variety of crop genetic resources.
As the American biologist Edward O. Wilson wrote in his book The Diversity of Life: “This is the set of life that took billions of years to evolve. It swallowed the storms, built them into its genes, and created the world that created us. It’s what makes the world stable“.
What can we do as citizens to care for nature?
The best thing ordinary people can do to care for nature is to organize to make a claim through established legal structures or civil society organizations and thus bring about important change.
The main direct factors identified as responsible for the degradation of land, marine and freshwater systems are changes in land use, overexploitation of plants and animals, climate change, pollution and invasive alien species.
Loss of life and property due to extreme weather events; the exacerbation of poverty and food insecurity after droughts and floods; social unrest and the increase in migratory flows; and diseases of zoonotic origin that bring the planet to its knees.
We know what is happening, we know the risks and also the solutions, and it is urgent to implement a plan that unites the world against this existential challenge. A plan that is agreed globally and implemented locally, setting measurable targets for nature and timeframe.
A positive future for nature
A positive future for nature requires transformative changes that span the entire system: how we produce and consume, the technology we use, and how we manage our economic and financial systems. Promoting them is equivalent to moving from talking about goals and objectives to talking about values and rights, both in policy design and in everyday life.
Therefore, conserving and using biodiversity in a sustainable way is a way of preserving the stability of the ecosystems from which we obtain essential services for human development.
Biodiversity plays an important role in the identity of citizens, in their production and in cultural development; it is a source of inspiration, production and recreation for different human groups. In the cultural and artistic field, the diversity of life forms forms the basis of knowledge, religious or philosophical beliefs, which guide people’s lifestyle: it is important to take care of it because we put our very existence as a species at risk.
The environment is valuable and its care depends on man: its care is an ethical duty. An intelligent management of natural resources implies contemplating nature in an integral way, recognizing general relationships and processes, water cycles, climates in each region, erosion processes, among other measures.
The intrinsic value of biodiversity
Biodiversity has an intrinsic value that must be protected. In a way, nature is priceless, but above all we must be clear that diversity constitutes a reserve of resources, which in turn can be used to increase economic potential.
So, it would be good to reflect on how much we are involved with our environment, without forgetting that the Earth is our home. What do we do every day to contribute our grain of sand to the conservation of biodiversity?