Biodiversity
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the shortened form of two words: "biological" and "diversity." It refers to all the variety of life that can be found on Earth (plants, animals, fungi and micro-organisms) as well as to the communities that they form and the habitats in which they live.
Biological diversity is understood at three levels:- species diversity refers to the variety of different species (plants, animals, fungi and micro-organisms) such as palm trees, elephants or bacteria;
- genetic diversity corresponds to the variety of genes contained in plants, animals, fungi and micro-organisms. It occurs within a species as well as between species. For example, poodles, German shepherds and golden retrievers are all dogs, but they all look different;
- ecosystem diversity refers to all the different habitats - or places - that exist, like tropical or temperate forests, hot and cold deserts, wetlands, rivers, mountains, coral reefs, etc.
The natural environment provides the basic conditions without which humans could not survive. This seems intuitive enough: we need to breathe, eat, drink and shelter ourselves and we get all this from the natural world. Overconsumption of natural services and products generates an unsustainable situation. This is why the carefully chosen objectives of the CBD are so important: the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.
Belgiums biodiversity is much richer than generally thought: discover our natural treasures on line!