Jaclyn Frank

Topic Essay
Biodiversity Enhancement

The variety of life within the world,a specific habitat, or an ecosystem is called

biodiversity. Biodiversity is the foundation of human-beings ecosystem and it is what keeps the

food chain in tact. The purpose of biodiversity enhancement is the saving of biodiversity to also

save our ecosystem as a whole. Biodiversity enhancement plans have the ability to save our

ecosystem from extinctions and endangers of species which keeps our world in a better place.

Biodiversity is important for maintaining a balance in our ecosystem, provision of

biological resources, and social benefits. According to conserve-energy-future.com, 80% of

human food supply comes from 20 different types of plants, and 400,000 species for food,

clothing and shelter. These odds show how biodiversity in our ecosystem affects our lives in

such a massive way due to our resources being cut if it keeps decreasing. Biodiversity also has a

role in human health, industry, and culture. Agricultural biodiversity has a large play in our

industry. Oils, dyes, fibers, water, timber, paper and food all come from this. Without

biodiversity, everyday items and resources that we have to use will become rare and may not

even be available in years if this decrease is still occurring.

The loss of biodiversity is caused by many factors. If a small element is broken down, the

entire ecosystem will be harmed. Some factors of biodiversity loss include habitat destruction,

climate change, invasive species, pollution, and human overpopulation. Many systems today are

threatened, especially the fresh water system. The pollution that has occurred over many years

has shown to have affected freshwater and made it toxic. The pollution has also caused global

warming, which shows its effects on coral reefs according to conserve-energy-future.com. With

global warming, in 20-40 years these biodiversity hotspot coral reefs will disappear. Biodiversity
is crucial to the well being of everything on Earth, which is why it must be preserved or our

ecosystem will break down year by year, month by month.

The decreasing of biodiversity on the planet has been ongoing for years. The only way to

start enhancing biodiversity is to become aware of the causes of its decreasement, and start doing

something about it. To preserve the lives of many species, we could protect their habitats and and

eliminate threats to natural areas. Some suggestions from naturetrust.bc.ca include leaving native

plants undisturbed, conserving water and reducing irrigation, constructing fences to protect

sensitive areas and more. By sticking to plans and supporting government regulated habitat

conservation projects, the biodiversity in our ecosystem could be saved. Doing certain things like

this and protecting our ecosystem by creating individual plans to help, could be the difference

between a happy and healthy Earth, or an Earth that is on a path to destruction.

Sources:

https://www.greenfacts.org/en/biodiversity/l-3/1-define-biodiversity.htm

https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/what-is-biodiversity.php
http://www.naturetrust.bc.ca/conserving-land/what-can-we-do