Change or we will kill them all: Losing the biodiversity of the world

The IUCN has just published the report “Global Biodiversity Outlook 3″. This work has been in progress since 1980, and there is now an organization of 1100 people working to uphold biodiversity. Many good projects are in progress all over the world.

But the grim conclusion of the report is that biodiversity is being steadily reduced in the world – we have fewer and fewer plants and animals/insects/fish in the world. The governments of the world are not doing enough to protect biodiversity. This is affecting people in major ways in relation to livelyhood, areas to stay, small scale agriculture, fishing, health and poverty. Large and wild tracts of land – truly wild areas – are disappearing and being fragmented, forests are made into lumber, species of seeds and husbanded animals are fewer and fewer, huge areas of specialized farms are growing steadily all over the world.

We are moving into new land areas, overfishing, polluting etc. like never before – we do not seem to care. Are there some idealists who see this and the rest of us don’t understand? Has it to do with lack of education, lack of personal responsibility? Do we start educational changes now so that people understand? Or is our thinking so fixated that new ideas are impossible to introduce?

We have been laboring on this for 30 years with no results, and with grim future prospects. Time for a change is coming up: The idea of personal responsibility must become the norm, education on environmentalism for all must be strengthened massively.

Governments must also do their bit. Norway is a good example: A law of natural biodiversity was introduced last year and with resources behind it this could be good. A law is only as good as the work you put into it. Many other nations are working well too, so don’t let us be too glum!

Start with yourself: where can you contribute positively? What we do will ultimately get to us all.

See link:  International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN

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