About a million animal & plant species stand threatened with extinction: Wake-up UN call on International Day for Biological Diversity (IBD)
Proclaimed by the United Nations (UN), The International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB), is observed every year on May 22 to raise awareness of biodiversity and the need to preserve it. In the year 2022, IDB is being observed with the theme "Building a shared future for all life."
According to the UN, when biodiversity has a problem, humanity has a problem. These days, besides biodiversity being seen as combination of a wide variety of plants, animals and microorganisms, it also includes genetic differences within each species and ecosystems such as lakes, forest, deserts, agricultural landscapes; that host multiple kind of interactions among their members consisting of humans, plants, and animals, adds the UN website.
"Biological diversity resources are the pillars upon which we build civilizations. Fish provide 20 per cent of animal protein to about 3 billion people. Over 80 per cent of the human diet is provided by plants. As many as 80 per cent of people living in rural areas in developing countries rely on traditional plant‐based medicines for basic healthcare," states the UN website.
It has been cautioned by the UN that 'loss of biodiversity threatens all, including our health. It has been proven that biodiversity loss could expand zoonoses - diseases transmitted from animals to humans- while, on the other hand, if we keep biodiversity intact, it offers excellent tools to fight against pandemics like those caused by coronaviruses.'
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