13.07.10 - What does Biodiversity mean to you?
What is a bee to you? Or a mushroom that grows in parts of Finland? Do you consider yourself an apple connoisseur?
A new series of biodiversity stories developed by the European Environment Agency (EEA) and its Eionet partners can help us rediscover our connection with the natural world around us and understand why we urgently need to halt the loss of biodiversity.
Biodiversity
Agriculture Biological diversity is the variety of life on Earth, within species, between species and across ecosystems. We are part of biodiversity and depend completely on it for our livelihoods and well-being. The biological world provides a huge array of goods including food, fibres, fuels and medicines, as well as vital ecosystem services such as maintaining climate stability, and cleaning air and water.
Halting the loss of biodiversity is one the major challenges of the twenty-first century. It is a vast issue, relevant to us all and demanding awareness and action at all levels, from local to global. Unfortunately, public understanding of biodiversity’s importance is often limited. Despite being crucial for our well-being and survival, many people are not sure what biodiversity is or feel disconnected from it.
The 'Our Natural Europe' or 'ONE' stories are being developed by the EEA and its Eionet partners to illustrate in everyday language what biodiversity is and how we’re connected to it. The stories will highlight the variety of ecosystems and biodiversity of Europe and the threats and pressures they face, including habitat fragmentation and destruction, invasive alien species, pollution, over-harvesting and climate change.
For more information pleas visit the EEA website @ www.eea.europa.eu
