International Day for Biological Diversity
By Vusala Abbasova
Many of us even don't even think about the importance of biological diversity in our world even though people's fate is actually closely linked to it.
Since 2001, May 22 annually marks International Day for Biological Diversity, in keeping with a decision by the UN General Assembly.
What do we know about biological diversity and its influential role on our lives and the Earth?
Biological diversity represents the variety of all life on the planet and it is now rapidly shrinking.
Little known to people, live on Earth and humans' ability to strive very much depends on millions of animal species as they help maintain life sustainability on our planet, keeping things in balance. And although scientists have said that the disappearance of some species might not overall put a spanner in the work so to speak and challenge our own survival, how many species can the Earth afford to lose before it's too late?
This question will remain unanswered because no one really knows how much biodiversity we can afford to lose before our ecosystem crumbles to the ground. Should balance be lost, then our very existence would be standing on the line and we have no way in counter-balancing such negative effects.
Biological diversity provides us with inexhaustible biological resources: provisions, fibers for clothing, building materials, colorant, synthetic substance, medicine and others. Our world economy relies on such resources to function.
Biological resources also play an important role in the medicine sector. Contemporary medicine is interested in biological resources for the purpose of finding new remedies. The abundance of biological diversity of animate being gives has enable medical breakthrough - 40 percent of all world drugs include substance of phytogenous.
Biodiversity is of crucial importance in agriculture since it can help decrease of poverty. Since the majority of all people in the world live in rural areas, biodiversity directly impact living standards and wages.
More than 3 million people all around the world live in coastal and marine areas and their life sustenance depends on the water, while more than 1.6 billion people rely on forests and non-timber forest products for their livelihoods. Environment degradation and biodiversity loss are threatening the well-being of more than 1 billion people living in arid and semi-arid areas. Thus, the strategy for the protection of biodiversity should be developed for poverty eradication and sustainable development.
The existence of the Red Book means that many continue to live on the edge. Why the red color you may ask. Well simply because red means alarm and danger, it equates to SOS.
The Book was called red to attract the public's attention to this global problem.
Because of people activity our children could find themselves living in a world where many plants and animals have gone extinct.
This issue was brought to the world's attention back in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro when at a UN Conference on Environment and Sustainable Development a Convention on biological diversity was adopted. Until today, 200 countries have signed.
The objectives of the Convention are clear: the conservation of biological diversity of living species and ecosystems, sustainable use of components of biological diversity and the benefits from the utilization of genetic resources.
Nature plays a great and invaluable role in formation of our ideals and aspirations, even though we do not always realize it.
Every species, whether fauna or flora is unique, an inimitable creation of nature, the result millions of years of evolution.
Such beauty is priceless and should be protected at all cost.
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