biodiversity

Key facts

• More than 75% of global food cultures rely on pollinators and contribute 235 to 577 billion US dollars to global agricultural production every year.
• Over 50% of modern drugs come from natural sources, including antibiotics of mushrooms and painkillers from plant connections.
• Forests store 80% of terrestrial biodiversity and absorb approximately 2.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually, which reduces climate change.
• Invasive extraterrestrial species contribute to 60% of the species extinction and cause global economic damage of $ 423 billion every year.
• Healthy ecosystems deliver 75% of global freshwater resources, with moisture areas playing a key role in water cleaning. However, 35% of the wetlands have been lost since 1970.
• Indigenous peoples that represent an estimated 6% of the world population are decisive stakeholders and rights holders in the preservation and sustainable management of biological diversity. They manage over 38 million square kilometers of land worldwide, including almost 40% of all protected areas.

overview

The biological diversity, the variability between living organisms from all sources, underpins the entire life on earth. This includes diversity within species, between species and over ecosystems, which represent the genetic composition of plants, animals, microorganisms and the complexity of ecosystems.

Healthy communities are obtained from well -functioning ecosystems that offer critical services such as clean air, fresh water, natural medication and nutritional safety. These ecosystems also regulate diseases and help stabilize the climate. For example, forests take over 2.6 billion tons of CO2 annually, which contributes to climate regulation and reduces the incidence of diseases in connection with pollution. However, the loss of the biological diversity accelerates unprecedented people, with approximately 1 million species are threatened from extinction, which endangers these important services and intensifies the global risks of public health.

Effects

People are dependent on biological diversity in many ways. Human health is based on ecosystem resources, products and services (such as fresh water, food and fuel sources; the regulation of crops and diseases as well as the regulation of air, water and soil quality), which are required for good health and productive livelihood. The loss of biological diversity can have significant direct effects on health if ecosystem services no longer meet social needs. Changes to the ecosystems can make a living, income, local migration and even cause or even increase political conflicts.

Significant medical and pharmacological discoveries are made by a better understanding of the earth. The biological diversity of microorganisms, flora and fauna offers extensive advantages for biological, health and pharmacological sciences. It is also the source of traditional and complementary medication.

The loss of biological diversity also has profound economic consequences, especially in sectors such as agriculture, fishing and healthcare. It is estimated that the global economic effects of the loss of biological diversity per year is 10 trillion dollars, including health costs through increased disease transmission and agricultural losses due to the decline in the pollinator. For example, the decline in bee populations, which are responsible for pollination of plants worth over 235 billion US dollars per year, threatens global nutritional security and nutrition.

Threats for biological diversity and health

The loss of the biological diversity occurs alarming, with the recent estimates showing that the extinction of species is currently 10 to 100 times higher than the natural baseline. This is mainly due to human activities such as deforestation, fragmentation of habitats and climate change. This loss endangers the essential ecosystem services, including pollination, soil fertility and water cleaning, with direct consequences for human health. For example, the deterioration of wetlands that filter fresh water has led to a decline in the global wetland cover since 1970, transferred the diseases of water and reduces water availability for over 2 billion people.

The loss of biological diversity and the breakdown of ecosystems become significant health concerns. When ecosystems are disturbed, services such as clean air, water and food can be affected. In addition, we lose valuable natural resources – such as plants and animals – that can have undeveloped advantages for health and medicine.

Sustainable, healthy food systems

The biological diversity serves as the basis for healthy sustainable food systems. It directly influences the availability and nutritional value of food, since a variety of plant and animal species, ecosystems and genetic resources contribute to a healthier, more resistant food production. Access to sufficient nutritious and varied foods is a fundamental determinant for health.

Nutrition and biological diversity are connected at different levels, from ecosystems that offer food to genetic diversity within species. This variety influences the nutritional composition of food, including the availability of micronutrients. Healthy eating with adequate nutrient absorption depends on the high biological diversity.

Biodiversity offers a genetic pool for the development of resistant and sustainable foods, types of cattle and sea. It plays a crucial role in varieties of prison that are resistant to pests, diseases and climate extremes. The use of this genetic potential increases agricultural productivity and resilience, reduces the dependence on chemical inputs and promotes sustainable practices. This not only improves food quality, but also supports health and well -being of the community.

Biological diversity supports important ecosystem services such as soil fertility, natural pest control, pollination and water regulation. The preservation of biological diversity in agricultural landscapes promotes sustainable food systems that can produce nutritious foods with minimal environmental influences.

However, intensified practices of food production influence global nutrition and health. Biological diversity deteriorates through activities such as excessive use of irrigation, fertilizers and pesticides. The simplification of habitats (the selective removal of species as in monoculture) and the loss of species increases the weaknesses and underline the need for biological diversity -friendly practices to support nutritional safety and public health.

Health research and traditional medicine

Traditional medicine continues to play a crucial role in healthcare, especially in the primary health environment. It is estimated that 60% of the world’s population use traditional medication. Under the various modalities of traditional medicine, the use of medicinal plants is most common worldwide. Medicinal plants are obtained through game collection and cultivation, which provide communities and indigenous peoples of natural products that serve medical, cultural and even nutritional purposes.

Infectious diseases

Human activities disturb the biological diversity and ecosystems and influence their structure and functions. Deforestation, change in land use, loss and fragmentation of the habitat, population growth, climate change, pollution, invasive foreign species, migration, trade and other drivers play a role in disease patterns. These disorders change the frequency of the organism, population dynamics and ecological interactions and ultimately affect infectious diseases. An increased contact between wildlife, cattle and humans leads to an increased risk of transmission of diseases.

Biodiversity plays a crucial role in the disease regulation by maintaining balanced ecosystems in which no individual species dominate. This balance limits the spread of zoonotic diseases (infectious diseases that jump from animals to humans). Recent studies estimate that over 75% of the emerging infectious diseases such as Ebola or Nipah virus are zoonotic and often arise in areas where ecosystems and habitats were disrupted by deforestation or change in land use. By maintaining biological diversity, ecosystems can require people from the risk of exposure to disease reservoirs.

Climate change

The climate is an essential part of the ecosystem function, and human health is influenced directly and indirectly by changing the climatic state in terrestrial, water and sea ecosystems.

The biological diversity is influenced by climate variaability and changes and extreme weather events (e.g. the biodiversity of marine biodiversity is influenced by the anchoring of the ocean in connection with carbon levels. of plants, pathogens, Animals and even human settlements. adapt.

Ecosystems such as forests and wetlands act as natural carbon sinks, absorb CO2 and regulating global temperatures. The destruction of these ecosystems accelerates climate change and leads to increased heat waves, floods and other climate -related health risks, including heat stress, malnutrition and the spread of vector diseases such as malaria and dengue.

Who reacts

Whre, who develops the biodiversity of public health plans, global evidence of biological diversity and health, supports the federal states in assessing health gaps from the loss of biological diversity and monitorical biological diversity, health policy to ensure human rights, equity and health for all confirmed.

The Global Center for Traditional Medicine supports traditional knowledge systems in a right-hand-based framework that promotes sustainable health practices.

That are used for this -Anment, full approach of the whole, which is based on justice.

Who promotes cross -sectoral cooperation by providing training, instructions and support for biodiversity informed health policy. The expert working group for biological diversity, climate change, health and natural -based solutions develops evidence -based strategies that deal with loss of biological diversity and their health effects. Further cooperation is achieved by the Nature for Health (N4H) initiative, which concerns the loss of biological diversity and climate change to prevent pandemic risks at their source by the guidelines and capacity development with the framework of global biological diversity of Kunming -Montreal can be reconciled.