Practical Steps to Preserve Biodiversity

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Practical Steps to Preserve Biodiversity
by Carlos Montemayor \| 29-06-2018 12:40 0
From an article by the Philippines' Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB): "The Philippines is considered a mega-diversity country rivaled only by a few countries in the world when it comes to variety of ecosystems, species and genetic resources. Many of the island comprising the archipelago are believed to have a very high degree of land and animal endemism. The country hosts more than 52,177 described species of which more than half is found nowhere else in the world (Philippine Biodiversity Conservation Priorities: A second iteratioin of the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, 2002). On a per unit area basis, the Philippines probably harbors more diversity of life than any other country on the planet." As a Filipino, I am proud to see information such as these. My country? A biodiversity hotspot? Wow! All these can be found online, so today, I will not tell you about things you can find on other places in the Internet. Instead, I will tell you about my personal musings and reflections on things we can all do to protect the biodiversity of nature in our respective countries. Whether you come from a nature-rich place such as the Philippines, or other countries where biodiversity may not flourish as much, there are always forms of nature that all of us can protect through practical actions. Have a nice read and I hope that you are able to pick up useful suggestions from this! 1. Use less paper bags (and paper products!) You probably have read my previous post regarding the production and the use of paper bags. Something everyone thought is great and amazing for the environment is actually terrible in a lot of ways! The use of paper bags, of course, means cutting down trees for their production. How will this affect biodiversity? First, it will disrupt the ecosystem by reducing the oxygen supply for all members of the ecosystem, as well as will increase air pollution by decreasing those that decrease pollution. Second of all, the reduction in the number of trees means a loss of habitat for lots and lots of species dependent on trees for their homes. This will cause these organisms to die out, which obviously, is unwanted. If we have better alternatives to paper products (and we do!), then we should take advantage of this! 2. Save the environment, but save it wisely! Also relating to number 1, is my more general suggestion. Today, there are numerous articles that we see online telling us how we may help save and preserve the environment and the species that are around us. However, we must think critically and examine these suggestions, as not all of this are actually beneficial in the long-term. Maybe they look good at first, but in the end, they may just end up making things much much worse than they already are. All of us here are capable of thinking critically, I'm sure of that! So, we must use these to take a close look at the practices we are incorporating in our lives, thinking that these are good for biodiversity and nature, but are actually not. 3. Volunteer for hands-on action! Get involved! In our modern day and age, there are no shortages of advocacy groups that allow us to go beyond being keyboard warriors for the environment. They allow us to act on our ideas, not merely share them. You can volunteer at your local wildlife center, or with a group that does trips to the wild to take care of various species. You can help with an organization that does research on ecology and biodiversity, to allow yourself to understand the big picture more! There are countless ways to address and act on this area. Asking around or researching online on groups that we may get involved with will definitely get us on our way to being truly involved and act on these directly! I'm sure that there's more we can do beyond these three things that I have suggested, and so I encourage all of you to comment below this and share what you think and what your ideas are on this matter!

Dormant user Carlos Montemayor

4 Comments

Deepak Subedi says :
Biodiversity must be preserved to protect our self, thanks for sharing it with us.
Posted 01-07-2018 01:27

Gyeongrin mentor says :
Hello Carlos
It is great that Philippines are rich-natured and a hotspot of biodiversity!
And the practical steps suggested to preserve biodiversity seems more meaningful as it comes from thoughts based on your real experience and contribution:)
Thanks for sharing~

Posted 30-06-2018 13:35

Joon Ho Mentor says :
Hello Carlos, just right after your report about using less paper bags, this report covers overall practical steps to become environment-friendly person with active performance.
As you mentioned, our hands-on actions are really important, and I can see many ambassadors are doing so in here.
Multiple aims supported by a myriad of ways to reach biodiversity are always welcome!
Thanks for your report :)
Posted 30-06-2018 13:06