Biodiversity, MARCH’s sustainability theme, can be defined as the variety and variability of living things in a habitat or, more widely, on the whole living planet.

Biodiversity is important as:

• plants provide oxygen and remove carbon dioxide
• fungi and micro-organisms are essential for recycling waste material
• we are part of a network of life which provides our essential life-support systems
• it is widely recognised that being in the natural world is psychologically good for us
• a more complex network is more resilient when change happens

Did you know?

• 60% of all mammal biomass is domestic livestock – cows, sheep, etc.; 36% is human beings; wild animals – from blue whales to mice – make up only 4%.
• Insect numbers are decreasing by c. 2.5% a year. In Britain, over 50% of their major groups are in significant decline.
• 150-200 species of plants, insects, birds or mammals become extinct every 24 hours – nearly 1,000 times the ‘natural’ or ‘background’ rate.
• Britain has about 50,000 non-marine animal and plant species, of which c.7,000 are flies!

What can we do? We can:

• attract wildlife to our gardens
• support or volunteer locally with groups caring for nature
• campaign for environmental protection
• try to live more simply and sustainably

Look next month for more detailed ideas.

A simple lifestyle freely chosen is a source of strength. (Advices & Queries, 41)