The Importance of Biodiversity

We are very fortunate in being able to publish on the blog, this small article by Elizabeth Hay, from Cults Parish Church. Cults has recently won an Eco-Congregations award.

“From so simple a beginning endless forms so beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved.”

These are the words of Charles Darwin whose life was celebrated last year. 2010 celebrates these endless forms in the International Year of Bio-Diversity. What is Bio-diversity? It is the whole variety of life on Earth, not just butterflies, birds and plants but also micro-organisms like bacteria and plankton, as well as species we call “pests”. They are all essential pieces of the web of life. Bio-diversity is a basic part of the Earth’s life support systems. We depend on it for fertile soil, fresh water and clean air.

Textile fibres, dyes, building materials, adhesives, oil and rubber all come from biological sources. It is not something you can ignore. It affects all areas of our lives. Fifty percent of pharmaceutical drugs come from plants. Plankton provides almost half the oxygen we breathe. Trees help lock up carbon emissions that contribute to global warming. This reduces the harmful effects of climate change.

Since the early 20th Century almost half the UK’s ancient woodlands have been cut down. When you consider that one oak tree can support up to five hundred species, this leads to a huge loss of bio-diversity. The loss of this variety of life endangers not just our physical bodies but also our spiritual wellbeing. In her book “Silent Spring” Rachel Carson wrote, “There is something infinitely healing in the refrains of nature – the assurance that dawn comes after night and spring after winter.” Why are we losing Bio-diversity at such a rate? There are three major reasons. Human population has doubled in the last fifty years and is projected to rise to nine billion by 2050. This puts huge pressure on the earth’s limited resources. Pollution of land, air, oceans and rivers continues to be a problem in almost every country of the world. Thirdly, communities of plants and animals are being destroyed by changes in the way we use land.

At the Earth Summit in Rio de Janiero our government signed up to halting the loss of Bio-diversity in this country by 2010. This has not happened. In the face of apparently insurmountable problems, what can we as individuals and in communities of faith do? We can, as is often quoted, live simply that others may simply live. What better example of this do we have than Christ himself?


We can look after areas locally such as the familiar places where we walk, cycle, run and exercise our pets. We can learn more about how the natural world works and discover its astonishing beauty and complexity. We can all reduce waste so that valuable places for wildlife are not lost to landfill. We can grow native trees and plants, erect nest boxes for birds and create homes for insects. Be encouraged by Christ’s Parable of the Mustard see where very small beginnings can lead to much greater things. There is much in the Christian and other faiths which honour, respect and care for the sacred mystery of the natural world. All living things are part of the Web of Life and undeniably and inescapably we are part of it. What matters more than the biodiversity of the world upon which we all depend?

Biodiversity

The blog is starting a series of contributions by selected academics and environmental activists who will present their own particular viewpoints through this medium. We hope that in this way, the Eco-congregations Blog will contribute to the debate surrounding environmental issues and life style. The first of our pannelsts is Dr.Sheena Wurthmann (School of the Built and Natural Environment at Glasgow Caledonian University and SNH).

Please feel free to comment.

There is a lot in the news about climate change and carbon footprints. Reducing the use of fossil fuels and the production of greenhouse gases is a vital process but it is only part of the story. Whatever we do we depend on green plants absorbing carbon dioxide through photosynthesis to produce oxygen and water. This “environmental service” is rarely accounted by the economists probably because it is hard to put monetary values on these processes. When it is done it becomes clear that deforestation particularly the rainforests means that globally there is less capacity to absorb carbon dioxide. This makes the models for climate change less resilient.

Where in the world do we find the best places for capturing and storing carbon? We are very familiar with the role of tropical rainforests. These ecosystems are very valuable sinks that capture carbon and store it in the biological diversity of the ecosystem but they are not the only sinks. All forests – particularly the ancient natural forests capture and store large amounts of carbon. This suggests that major efforts should be made to protect and enhance all forests and woodlands and encourage the development of diversity. Monoculture of commercial forestry only provides temporary carbon stores and is not a self-sustaining system.

Other important ecosystems are also excellent carbon stores. The peat bogs in Scotland are major systems for capturing and storing carbon. This only works if the peat land is allowed to develop a high level of diversity. This is diversity of mosses and lichens and insects. Draining and exploiting the peats releases the carbon stored and increases the problem. Raising the water table and encouraging more moss growth and peat development would be a better strategy.


The wetlands such as marshes and reed beds have similar contributions to the carbon stores. However, they have other advantage of “treating” the water as it passes through the habitats. This water treatment process is a major method of naturally dealing with diffuse pollution. Again these are habitats that are frequently modified by draining, construction and farming. These activities reduce the capacity for using carbon stores, providing natural pollution control and soft mechanism for flood management and water storage. We lose a lot when we try to manage nature.


The major area of the Planet Earth’s surface is ocean. The small green algae carry out photosynthesis and this makes for a large amount of carbon capture. Some almost sci-fi proposals to increase this are recognition of the importance of this system. More to the point in terms of improving the oceanic system is to prevent pollution in the coastal and deep oceanic areas. .For ecosystems to work well all types of organism should be represented. That means that herbivores and carnivores and predators should be functioning well. Current fishing practices suggest that humans are disrupting the large oceanic system in vital ways. Climate change is a challenge but reducing carbon footprints is only half the story. The other half is about treasuring and enhancing biodiversity locally and globally.

Credits
The picture of the marshes was taken by Herzogbr. the picture of the ocean was taken by Andrew Hux. The photograph of the fish ready for sale was taken by Mr T in DC. The picture of the peatland was taken by Colin J Campbell.



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