Since the beginning stages of life on earth, Mother Nature has fulfilled all living organisms with their needs for survival. In the meantime, to cope with their surrounding, many have transformed from their primitive form to their current structure.
All forms of life that we see around us today are the results of millions of years of evolution. Despite being introduced late into the evolution cycle, humans have the utmost consciousness, facilitating its well-being. Nonetheless, every living organism has its unique role in the ecological cycle. Take a small microbe for example; its role in the nutrient cycle helps maintain soil fertility, eventually leading to food production. We can find similar examples all around us which shows that all aspects of human existence depend on the biodiversity.
The perfect storm
Humans depend on all resources from nature, and long for the best quality possible. To ensure the availability and sustainability of these resources, it is important to preserve the biodiversity of life. However, lately, it has been increasingly evident that biodiversity is threatened by the increase in material consumption with the rise in human population. To cope with the current demands, humans are altering the natural cycle by increasing artificial human activities.
The loss of biodiversity results in degraded productivity, ecosystem services, and unpredictable weather patterns that affect the human wellbeing. If the situation continues to be so, we will have to counter problems never even imagined before. Scientists have been warning the policymakers of the possibility of the 6th mass extinction.In near future, we could be starving for food, fighting for clean water, killing each other to reduce competition and our resilience to diseases may be greatly reduced. We will only have guilt and regret of not preserving the natural state of the environment. The self-healing capacity of nature soon will cross its limit if the humankind doesn’t take action immediately.
In the last few decades, many people have realized the immediate need for action to change the current scenarios. Many developed countries are launching projects intended to promote biodiversity conservation. Also, several organizations are involving local people to take initiative to protect their immediate environment. Though small, these efforts can help bring change in the degrading biodiversity of nature and eventually reverse the negative effects caused over several decades.
