Last Updated on December 31, 2022 by Dr Bucho
Before We Tell you How Biodiversity is important for children? Let’s know first the Significance of Biodiversity Conservation: our lives and biodiversity are intertwined. All of them are a reflection of biodiversity, just like the assortment of fruits and vegetables we see in the grocery store. There are significant changes in flavor and texture between many varieties of vegetables, even within the same type.
Biodiversity
The phrase, which literally means “biological diversity,” refers to the wide variety of life, including all plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms, as well as the ecosystems and habitats they generate. Unicef
Biological diversity comprises three levels: Species diversity: the variety of different species; Genetic diversity: the variety of genes contained in plants, animals, fungi, and micro-organisms; and ecosystem diversity: all the different habitats that exist.
Biodiversity and Humans
All humans and all human cultures depend on biodiversity for their overall health and well-being, for economic growth, for the safety and security of their food, and in many other areas. Organisms, ecosystems, and ecological processes give us clean air to breathe and clean water to drink. They also help cycle carbon and fix nutrients, allow plants to flourish, control pests and illnesses, guard against flooding, and regulate the climate.
Why Conservation of Biodiversity is Important?
Ecosystems on Earth provide tasks including water conservation, wind and sand control, carbon sequestration, and temperature regulation. Examples of these ecosystems include forests and grasslands, rivers, lakes and seas, marshes, and deserts. Less widely recognized is the fact that each species’ rich and diversified gene pool has evolved into a treasure mine of materials necessary for the long-term growth of human civilization.
Humanity depends on biodiversity. Biodiversity contributes to 50% of the global gross domestic product (GDP) output. 70 percent of cancer medications are derived from plants and animals, and nearly 40 percent of the world’s population depends on marine and coastal biodiversity for their survival.
Biodiversity at Threat!
More quickly than at any other point in human history, biodiversity is disappearing. Even though humans only make up 0.01% of all living things, we have already lost 80% of all wild mammals and 50% of all plants in the past 100 years. The delicate equilibrium that all species, including our own, rely on in nature for survival is being destroyed by the way humans cultivate food, generate energy, eliminate waste, and use resources. Additionally, scientists concur that the pace of climate change is far too rapid for species to adapt and survive.
How Biodiversity is Important For Children?
Loss of biodiversity and deteriorating ecosystems have negative effects on everyone. Children in particular are impacted because their bodies are still growing and because of their actions, such as playing in the dirt or eating it, which can expose them to more dangerous chemicals and microorganisms.
1. Nutrition Deficiency
Biodiversity supplies the plant, animal, and microbial genetic resources required for food production and varied, balanced meals, all of which are critical for optimal child nutrition. Ecosystem services like soil fertilization, nutrient recycling, management of pests and diseases, erosion prevention, and crop and tree pollination are all made possible by biodiversity.
2. Possibility of Communicable Diseases
According to Unicef Loss of biodiversity can lead to an increase in the prevalence and spread of several infectious diseases that are fatal for children. Diseases that transfer from animals to humans are a severe threat: studies reveal that 75 percent of all new diseases come from wildlife, including COVID-19. Deforestation forces wild animals out of their native habitats and into close proximity to people; it is also connected to 31% of epidemics, including those caused by the Ebola, Zika, and Nipah viruses. Additionally, climate change is a factor in human emigration and has changed and accelerated the patterns of infectious disease transmission.
3. Non Availability of Pure Water
Ecosystems’ ability to produce and purify water depends on biodiversity. A youngster perishes from a water-borne illness every two minutes. However, biodiversity provides the ecosystem services required to preserve supplies of drinking water through the ongoing recycling of water. Ecosystems are important for the filtration of water.
4. Impact On Climate and Wheather
In order to make communities more resilient and less vulnerable to shocks like climate change and natural catastrophes, biodiversity is crucial. Ecosystems capable of controlling the temperature and reducing floods become unstable as a result of biodiversity loss. As a result, communities become less resilient and less able to adjust and safeguard the health and safety of their children.
5. Possible Medicines Shortage
A vital and irreplaceable source of medications and medical knowledge advancements, biodiversity supports child health. Animals, fungi, microorganisms, and plants are the sources of novel and distinctive compounds that serve as the foundation for new pharmaceuticals. As a result of the models that biodiversity offers for studying health and disease, treatment options and survival rates have improved.
What steps can we take to protect biodiversity?
It is not enough to add more species to preserve biodiversity; instead, people need to learn about species’ traits and safeguard the environments on which they depend. A powerful motivator for the positive behavioural change necessary to ensure more sustainable lifestyles and choices in the consumption of energy, food, and water can be found in helping people understand what biodiversity loss means for them, and in particular for the health of their children. This will help to reduce threats to biodiversity.
Significance of Biodiversity Conservation
Green stimulus plans or new deals offer a chance to recognise the intimate ties between people, the environment, and the climate and put that understanding into practise by taking steps to lower the risks associated with the natural world. Increasing the number of protected areas on the planet, restoring natural habitats, closing illegal wildlife markets, altering consumption patterns to lessen the strain on the environment, and setting goals to reduce the impact of all that the world produces and consumes by a factor of two would result from this. As a result, this would contribute to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and an increase in carbon sink conservation, which both address climate change.
how biodiversity loss affects humans?
If ecological services are no longer sufficient to meet social requirements, the loss of biodiversity may have serious direct effects on human health. Changes in ecosystem services have an indirect impact on local migration, livelihoods, income, and occasionally even the onset or escalation of political conflict.
Can a damaged ecosystem be restored?
While some ecosystems are doomed to failure, others are capable of “bouncing back” and recovering. Even the less robust ecosystems can progressively recover. But restoring them to their former state will take a lot of money and time. In general, creating, enhancing, or restoring healthy ecosystems requires a number of stages.
Why biodiversity is important for children?
Children in particular are impacted because their bodies are still growing and because of their actions, such as playing in the dirt or eating it, which can expose them to more dangerous chemicals and microorganisms.
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