What does ‘biodiversity’ mean and why is it important?
In simple terms, biodiversity refers to all types of life on earth. The UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), describes it as “the diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems, including plants, animals, bacteria, and fungi”. These three levels work together to create life on Earth, in all its complexity.
The diversity of species keep the global ecosystem in balance, providing everything in nature that we, as humans, need to survive including food, clean water, medicine, and shelter. Over half of global GDP is strongly dependent on nature. More than one billion people rely on forests for their livelihoods.
Biodiversity is also our strongest natural defence against climate change. Land and ocean ecosystems act as “carbon sinks”, absorbing more than half of all carbon emissions.
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