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The importance of biodiversity

Published : Tuesday, 29 December, 2020 at 12:00 AM  Count : 3244
Md Zillur Rahaman
Protecting biodiversity plays a crucial role in achieving the carbon emissions reductions. The destruction of forest is responsible for 11 per cent of all global greenhouse gas emissions. So conserving forests would stop the release of these gases into the atmosphere. Trees and plants also store carbon in their tissue, making it even more necessary to protect them.

The variety of life on Earth, its biological diversity is commonly referred to as biodiversity. It is the number of different species of plants, animals, and microorganisms. It includes organisms from Earth's vastly different ecosystems, including deserts, rainforests, coral reefs, grasslands, tundra and polar ice caps. Our biodiversity is very important to the well-being of our planet. Most cultures, at least at some time, have recognized the importance of conserving natural resources. Appropriate conservation and sustainable development strategies attempt to recognize this as being integral to any approach to preserve biodiversity. Almost all cultures have their roots in our biological diversity in some way or form. Declining biodiversity is therefore a concern for many reasons.

Some ecosystems, such as mangroves, are particularly good at storing carbon and keeping it out of the atmosphere. Forests and wetland ecosystems provide crucial buffers to extreme storms and flooding related to climate change. These ecosystems are complex, which means they function best, and are more resilient to the effects of climate change, when all the pieces of the ecosystem are in place meaning the biodiversity is intact.

Wildlife crime urgently needs justice. The global trafficking of wildlife continues relentlessly, driving many species towards extinction and threatening global security and public health. Massive efforts to raise awareness and reduce demand are not slowing one of the world's most lucrative forms of transnational organised crime, fuelled by big profits and low risk.

It is to be mentioned here that from the ancient times, wetlands are the lifeline of a country and these are responsible for sound environment, bio-diversity, ecological balance, flora and fauna. These are playing vital roles in economic development of the country. Livelihood of millions of people in our country is dependent on the wetlands since these are the repositories of natural fish that provide proteins for the vast population of the country. Besides, wetlands are playing important roles in irrigating land, migratory bird and ecological balance.

Our wetlands are dying due to the greedy grabbers. In most of the cases, the grabbers forcefully dump sand and soil using their muscle power without any consent of the wetland's owner or government authority. In some cases, a group of dishonest local administration helped them indirectly. This will result in immense suffering for the environment. We must not remain silent about such an alarming issue.

A bird sanctuary is a safe area where steps should be taken to preserve a habitation that is vital to survive the birds. It can be such a wetlands that normally attract many birds, or land that is important to the survival of an endangered species. Globally, there are different kinds of protected areas with varying legal status.

Needless to say that migration of bird is a perilous journey and involves a wide range of threats, often caused by human activities, that has been observed in our county. These birds know no boundaries but every migration turns into massacre--illegal trapping and hunting, collision with unsafe environment. Around the globe, many migratory bird species are sharply declining in numbers, and these declines are indicative of the threats facing the wider environment and our ecological balance.

The Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest across the world, is a beautiful and rich ecosystem, proved itself a big shield against cyclones. It is a gift of the nature of Bangladesh as it acts like a wall whenever a severe cyclone hits the country. But the ecosystem of Sundarbans has become very vulnerable to the pollution and may be changed the ecosystem's biodiversity. The biggest threat of Sundarbans is the global warming climate change that will raise the sea level of the Bay of Bengal side. To save the Sundarbans for our own safety, it is necessary to keep the balance of biodiversity.

No industrial installation can be established within 10 square kilometres of Sundarbans as per government environmental laws, but the most controversial coal based Rampal power plant is being implemented by the government ignoring the concern of civil society, environmental activist and UNESCO. The poachers are also randomly killing tigers, deer, snake and birds. The dishonest forest officers are also cutting trees without proper replacement of plantation. Many oil tankers is also running through different rivers of Sundarbans which poses threat to fish species and mangrove forest.
Aspirin, penicillin and thousands of other medicines are derived from nature. In fact, over half of all prescription drugs are made from plants, animals, and micro-organisms. With more than 30,000 species, we may be home to undiscovered life-saving medicines. At least 40 per cent of the world's economy and 80 per cent of the needs of the poor are derived from biological resources. In addition, the richer the diversity of life, the greater the opportunity for medical discoveries, economic development, and adaptive responses to such new challenges as climate change.

What eat is one of the many great things that biodiversity provides. Bees pollinate crops, organic fertilization increases yield, and heirloom varieties make our plants stronger and healthier. One farmer can feed 120 people each year, all thanks to biodiversity. Biodiversity, the diversity of life on Earth, is essential to the healthy functioning of ecosystems. Habitat loss and overexploitation, driven by our rapid population growth and unsustainable consumption patterns, are the primary causes of biodiversity loss which is now happening up to ten thousand times faster than for millions of years before.

We are well known that biodiversity also regulates our climate. Forests, wetlands, and other conserved habitats help to regulate greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and reduce the impact of floods and droughts. Sometimes we take too much from the environment and don't replace it with alternative. Pollution and climate change can harm ecosystems and species of animals.
The writer is a banker and freelance contributor




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