Welcome to Biodiversity Guide
Germany Biodiversity Article
. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.
Is Conservation Of Biodiversity The 800-Pound Elephant In Our Living Room?
from:While biodiversity is a hot topic, conservation of biodiversity might easily be considered the 800 pound elephant in the room.
Defining biodiversity is complicated enough: is it just the animal and plant life of a region, or the actual planet supporting them? Does it include or exclude human beings? Can biodiversity and development coexist?
North America is one of the most biologically diverse regions of the world, with ecospheres that vary from deserts to seashores and everything in between. However, North American biological diversity is in great danger. While most of the threats are relegated to one country or another, several of them affect two of the three countries, and their effects and their consequences will potentially affect the entire continent.
The real problem we face, however, is the conservation of biodiversity. While everyone agrees that conserving natural resources is a good idea, there is no consensus on how to go about it. Every group, from governmental agencies to agribusinesses to concerned individuals has their own idea of what conservation of biodiversity means, and what measures should be taken to achieve it. Further, each group has its own agenda to pursue, and may regard some factors of conservation of biodiversity as threats to those agendas.
Part of the problem is that conservation of biodiversity is quite costly. We are just beginning to develop the technologies necessary to preserve biodiversity hotspots, but trying to restore an area to its original state is not only costly, it is often impossible. Further, no one solution fits all hotspots. What is needed in, for example, the Aral Sea region is not necessarily what will work in the Everglades. In the first area, what is needed is reworking the irrigation systems to restore proper salinity of the remaining water, and prevent further seepage due to the composition of the irrigation channels. In the second area, the restoration of the Everglades would require, among other things, reclamation and reflooding of land currently owned privately or by agribusinesses requiring costly and time-consuming negotiations with each of the landowners in question, and, in the case of the agribusinesses, other areas would have to be found to grow their products, lest food shortages arise as a result of the land reclamation.
In other cases, reclamation of the land might include destroying current housing developments or factories, with the collateral losses of jobs in an what might be an economically depressed area.
With so many groups and interests, and the high costs, it is clear that the conservation of biodiversity is a complicated matter. Yet, if it is not resolved during our lifetimes, the problems we leave our descendants will be even more complicated and harder to resolve.
Germany Biodiversity News
Brazilians top biodiversity and Rio+20 awareness poll
[RIO DE JANEIRO] Brazilian consumers came out on top for their awareness and understanding of both biodiversity and the UN Conference on Sustainable Development ( Rio+20 ), according to the results of a survey in eight countries released last week (19 May) in São Paulo .
Read more...The Launch of yet another Intergovernmental Biodiversity Platform
25 April 2012 Our governments met last week to set up yet another intergovernmental platform to address the loss of biodiversity. This time they met in Panama to launch the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). It will be set up in Bonn, Germany, and, at least for now, will be administered by ...
Read more...GAF conducts Environmental Compliance Monitoring assignment for the Ambatovy Nickel Mine Project in Madagascar under ...
Munich, May 23rd, 2012 GAF AG announced today that it has made a successful contribution to Ambatovy’s biodiversity programme by applying Earth observation technology to the monitoring of forest habitats. The information derived contributes significantly to knowledge about prevailing deforestation rates along Madagascar’s eastern rainforest corridor, parts of which have World Heritage status ...
Read more...Photo exhibit highlights Southern Leyte’s biodiversity
MANY marveled at the rich biodiversity of Southern Leyte in photos during the opening of a photo exhibit dubbed as “Forest Exhibit: State of the Philippine Forest, Southern Leyte Forest Management Experience and Its Rich Biodiversity” last May 8-10. The exhibit was housed at the Maasin City Gymnasium.
Read more...Biodiversity: Invasive barred owls displacing endangered native northern spotted owls in Pacific Northwest forests
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service plans experimental removal of barred owls By Summit Voice SUMMIT COUNTY — Invasive barred owls are increasingly taking up residence in northwestern forests at the expense of native — and endangered — norther spotted owls, according to a research project conducted jointly by the Oregon State University and the U.S. [...]
Read more...