Conservation of Biological Diversity

Biodiversity is the variation of life forms in a particular ecosystem, biome, or the entire planet. Biodiversity often determines the health of biological system. An ecosystem is a community of all the plants, animals and microorganisms interacting with the non-living factors of a certain environment. A biome is group of similar ecosystems based on certain characteristics. Rainforests are an example of a biome and are among the most bio diverse regions on our planet. It is necessary to understand these terms to explore the topic of biodiversity, and hence understand how threats to biodiversity are a significant global concern.

Biodiversity is extremely important for supporting the environmental health of the Earth.

Biodiversity, to a certain extent, can control the spread of particular diseases. This is because with the increase in biodiversity, viruses main need to adapt themselves to new species. Certain viruses can be brought to control provided that the number of species in an environment is more.

Our food supply is a result of biodiversity, considering both plants and animals. Around 80 percent of our food supply is a product of 20 types of plants.

A considerable proportion of our medicines and drugs today are acquired from bio diverse locations. These drugs currently cannot be manufactured under laboratory conditions. Even though only a small fraction of the total diversity of plant life has contributed to the production of new drugs, many antibiotics and medicines are created from microorganisms.

An enormous range of industrial materials, especially building materials such as fibres, dyes, gums, adhesives, rubber and oil are taken from biological sources.