Acting locally: Impact globally

International Day of Biological Diversity

Dr. Parveen Kumar

Today is International Biodiversity Day. The United Nations celebrate International Biodiversity Day or World Biodiversity day on May 22, every year. It is celebrated to thank nature and what all it bring to us. This global event which is held on the 22^nd of May since year 2000 was first celebrated in 1993. From 1993 to 2000, the day was originally celebrated on December 29 to mark the date the Convention on Biodiversity officially went into effect. In December 2000, the UN General Assembly shifted the observance to May 22. This was done to commemorate the 1992 adoption and to make it easier for countries to plan and host events, avoiding late-December holiday. The day aims to promote and raise global awareness of issues related to the planet’s biodiversity.

Let us first understand what Biodiversity is and what is the need to give so much attention to it’ The word ‘Biodiversity’ has been generated from two words ‘biological’ and ‘diversity’. It refers to all the variety of life that can be found on earth like plants, animals, fungi and micro-organisms. Also, it refers to the communities that they form and the habitats in which they live. The article 2 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has given a formal definition of Biological diversity. The Biological Diversity there is defined as the variability among living organisms from all sources including inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems. Thus we can say that ‘Biodiversity’ is the combination of life forms and their interactions with each other and with the rest of the environment that has made Earth is a uniquely habitable place for humans. Its rich biodiversity has been a source of life to millions and millions of different organisims on this planet. Biodiversity provides us a large number of goods and services that sustain our lives. It encompasses a variety of life on earth and the natural patterns it forms. The biodiversity we see today is the fruit of billions of years of evolution, shaped by natural processes and, increasingly by the influence of humans. It forms the web of life of which we are an integral part and upon which we so fully depend.

Unfortunately, when human being today is not looking to fulfill their needs, but has moved towards greed. The large scale destruction of trees, the hunting of animals, the pollution of water bodies, the air we breathe, the degradation of soil and the loss of soil fertility all are the consequences of human being playing with nature. Playing with nature brought havoc on this planet. The most worrisome part is that the human interference with nature has resulted in a loss of biodiversity. In the last hundred years, more than 90 percent of crop varieties have disappeared from farmers’ fields. Half of the breeds of many domestic animals have been lost, and all of the world’s 17 main fishing grounds are now being fished at or above their sustainable limits. Locally-varied food production systems are under threat, including related indigenous, traditional and local knowledge. With this decline, agro biodiversity is disappearing, and also essential knowledge of traditional medicine and local foods. The loss of diverse diets is directly linked to diseases or health risk factors, such as diabetes, obesity and malnutrition, and has a direct impact on the availability of traditional medicines. Biological resources are the pillars upon which we build civilizations. The loss of biodiversity threatens our food supplies, opportunities for recreation and tourism, and sources of wood, medicines, and energy.

The United Nations does celebrate this day with different themes every year. Celebrating such days with a specific theme aims to leverage knowledge and spread awareness of the dependency of our food systems, nutrition, and health on biodiversity and healthy ecosystems. This all has the ultimate aim of conserving our precious biodiversity. This year the theme of the day is ‘Acting locally for global impact’. The theme gives a call to all of us to take action to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. Protecting biodiversity includes action close to home with positive ripple effects that can reach far beyond. Our actions at the local level can have very positive impacts at global level. If each one of us maintains a very peaceful and harmonious relationship with nature, the planet would be a far better place to live Safeguarding life on this planet and reversing biodiversity loss is not the job of government alone, it requires action from all segments of the society.

Biodiversity conservation can go a long way in sustainable development. It is not wrong to the say that bio-diversity remains the answer to several sustainable development challenges. From nature-based solutions to climate, health issues, food and water security, and sustainable livelihoods, biodiversity is the foundation upon which we can build back better. From ecosystem-based approaches to climate and/or nature-based solutions to climate, health issues, food and water security and sustainable livelihoods, biodiversity is the foundation upon which we can build back better. That is the main message from the CBD, key international instrument for sustainable development.

For halting biodiversity loss, we have to go for practices like organic and natural farming which conserve our biodiversity. At the same time, we have to avoid single-use plastics like plastic straws, coffee cups, plastic cutlery, take out containers or plastic water bottles and promotion of local and indigenous biodiversity for food and nutrition are some of the issues which we have to look into and adopt in our daily life; if we are serious to conserve our biodiversity and our planet. We also need to support the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework also referred to as the Biodiversity Plan. Brundtland commission has also identified three pillars of sustainable development. These are social, economic and environmental and all the pillars are very delicately interrelated. It is not possible to achieve sustainable and inclusive development by excluding any one of the three pillars.

This year’s theme of the global campaign highlights how actions taken in communities around the world contribute to the implementation of the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and to the collective effort to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. It emphasizes upon how from indigenous peoples and local communities, cities and local authorities, to youth, women, businesses and civil society, biodiversity action is strongest when it is driven by a whole-of-society approach. Local initiatives and partnerships play a vital role in turning global commitments into meaningful change on the ground. In the lead-up to COP17 of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the 2026 campaign is also an opportunity for all of us to showcase how local actions around the world are helping/can help in halting biodiversity loss as well as in achieving various targets set up under SDGs 2030.

(The author writes on agriculture and social issues; can be reached at pkumar6674@gmail.com)