It has been 25 years since we started celebrating International Biodiversity Day and apart from propagating basic knowledge about the importance of having natural variety in the biosphere, it?s also a time to reflect on what actions are we taking in order to protect it.

Biodiversity is important for many reasons. It?s an indication of how healthy the ecosystem is. It provides us various ecological, biological and social benefits. It?s also a manifestation of the mutualism that goes on in our environment. Think of it as a scale that must be balanced for our planet to function normally.

Basic lessons in science teach us that all living things are interconnected and interdependent towards one another. Plants give off oxygen and provide shelter. Animals eat plants. Humans need animals for work or for sustenance and furthermore. If one gear in this complex machinery is weakened, it compromises the entire machine. And our species is the best at pushing other species further to extinction. We are the malfunctioning gear but unfortunately, we dominate.

The Philippines is considered a biodiversity hotspot with almost 7,000 islands boasting of endemic species of flora and fauna. One particular animal that I?d like to put into the spotlight is the star of many environmental conservation initiatives: the sea turtle or as we call them, pawikan.

Sightings of this marine animal used to be common because the country has more than a thousand nesting areas but because of hunting, loss of habitat, climate change and pollution, the mighty sea turtle is now considered critically endangered. And that?s a sad fact because the presence of these animals were proof that the biodiversity was healthy. They fed on jellyfish or algae-engulfing corals which controlled the population of these invasive species. Their feces also help fertilize the sea grass beds.

Earlier this year, I got the chance to visit Cleanergy Park, a turtle nesting site in Davao City. They used to get plenty of visits every year but now, they?re lucky if even one turtle lays their eggs there. Although they aren?t a formal facility, some local citizens and even agencies ask for their help in housing injured or unhealthy sea turtles. The last time I visited, they had two turtles of different species. One stayed there because it became domesticated to the point wherein it couldn?t hunt for itself. It became a pet for a certain seaside community and they spoiled the turtle by making it eat human food. The other had problems staying under water and because the facility doesn?t have the equipment to accurately diagnose the issue, so the turtle just stays there for the time being.

It?s a terrifying thing what humans are able to do. We have made more species extinct than any other creature on this planet and it seems as if we never learn. There are products in our free market that can have a hand in the extinction or endangerment of a certain species, like shark oil and ivory.

This is why biodiversity matters and why we should double our efforts in preserving it. Difference makes our world beautifully diverse so natural variety must be protected.