Biodiversity starts in the distant past and it points toward the future’ is an apt quote much valid in today’s world. Biodiversity is all the different kinds of life forms one will find in one’s surroundings – plants animals, trees, insects, marine life and microorganisms. All these make up the natural world. Naturally, the biodiversity of every place could vary; that which we find in coastal regions, in arid regions, in the hills, the plains, etc. And therein lies the magnificence of nature’s bounty that we have been blessed with.
As humans, it is therefore our duty to preserve and nourish the biodiversity around us which nature has blessed us with. Each of the life forms comprising the biodiversity serves a purpose in maintaining the ecological balance in our surroundings as well as meeting the needs of other life forms including mankind. For instance, small insects and other creatures serve as food for sparrows. The loss of insects due to use of pesticides could lead to extinction of sparrows. Similarly microorganisms as well as seaweeds serve as food for fishes which in turn feed humans and provide us nutrition. Various species also provide us natural fuels, medicines, etc. They also provide services such as pollination and climate regulation and water purification. This entire chain is necessary for sustaining all life forms and ensuring well-being of this planet. Sadly, the current situation in most parts of our planet is far from satisfactory. Rapid and relentless urbanisation among other phenomena is, for example, destroying many of our urban spaces and robbing them of their flora and fauna, tree cover, and natural inhabitants. Similarly, pollution of our rivers, lakes and oceans has already deprived these water bodies of much of their living elements and led to great ecological imbalance. Not only that, pollutants (such as micro plastics) in the seas have entered the marine life and therefrom the human food chain, putting us all in grave physical danger.
There is thus need for urgent corrective measures. Local government authorities who govern our urban spaces could play a leading role. Primarily there is need for awareness building among the citizens on the wide biodiversity, how these are all intricately linked, and their role in enabling well-being of this planet. Schools are a good place to start such awareness building; in fact, many facets of biodiversity are built into school curriculums. Local governments could reinforce these with special programmes during national event days and festivals. Some cities have created biodiversity parks. These are very useful in attracting visits by local citizen groups, school children, etc. and knowledge sharing during such visits.
In addition to such awareness building there is the Biological Diversity Act 2002 which provides a legislative framework to guide the activities of local governments and other authorities. The Act provides for setting up regulatory bodies and mechanisms to ensure efforts are made in the right direction towards biodiversity conservation.
This issue of Urban Update brings together views and recommendations from knowledgeable contributors in the field and is likely to help accelerate action towards biodiversity conservation.
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