Biodiversity

Did you know?

Biodiversity is all living organisms (micro organisms, humans, plants and animals) that live on planet Earth. Each organism has been designed to occupy a certain area and plays a special and unique role in their environment, which ensures that the ecosystems are balanced and productive. It is the variety of different species and genetic variability among individuals within each species (from: Living in the Environment, 6th Edition 1990).

Spiders are known to be sensitive towards changes in environmental factors and have the potential to act as indicators of habitat quality and conservation value (Research team, University of Pretoria and University of Venda).

28 April 2009 is “Save the Frogs Day”.

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And for those who wonder why we should care: A rich biodiversity supports eco-services - those services that would cost you and I a fortune to replicate. Services such as water purification, crop pollination, flood control, air purification... There has been a study which showed that eco-services have a global VALUE exceeding $33 trillion per year (twice the value of gross national product of just the USA!) (See the report here)

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Quotes

“Like winds and sunsets, wild things were taken for granted until progress began to do away with them. Now we face the question whether a still higher standard of living is worth its cost in natural things, wild and free. For us of the minority, the opportunity to see geese is more important than television, and the chance to find a pasque-flower is a right as inalienable as free speech”

Aldo Leopold (1968:vii), from A sand county almanac and sketches here and there, first published in 1949