Campaigners say biodiversity conservation will boost climate resilience, avert pandemics
Robust investments in biodiversity conservation should be prioritized by national governments, industry and foundations in order to strengthen the resilience of local communities amid climatic shocks and disease outbreaks, campaigners said on Friday during the World Environment Day.
Elizabeth Mwiyeria, Kenya County Manager at international conservation agency, Vi Agroforestry, said that protecting biodiversity will ensure that communities are food secure, healthy and prosperous in a rapidly warming planet.
“Biodiversity conservation is the cornerstone of resilience to climate change. In a biologically diverse ecosystem, every being will find its space for existence at balance with nature,” Mwiyeria said in a statement issued in Nairobi.
This year’s World Environment Day whose theme is “Time for Nature” aims to rally the community of nations towards support for biodiversity conservation as a means to achieve sustainable development.
Mwiyeria said that protecting natural habitats is more urgent as local communities increasingly rely on them to provide food, clean water, medicine and building materials.
She said that unsustainable exploitation of vital ecosystems like forests and watersheds will undermine efforts to tackle hunger, disease and climate-related disasters.
“As humans rely more on nature for food and livelihoods, wildlife and ecosystems are put at risk, further increasing our vulnerabilities. It is time to reflect on the role of human beings in creating a balance between species and the environment upon which their lives are dependent on,” said Mwiyeria.
She noted that human activities are fuelling loss of iconic species and degradation of ecosystems, adding that home-grown innovations like agroforestry could provide some respite.
“Agroforestry can play a major role in conserving and even enhancing biodiversity and ecosystem services from farms to the landscape levels. It has the potential to mitigate climate change and boost resilience of small-holder farmers,” said Mwiyeria.
She said that governments should enact policies that promote sustainable land management practices to ensure that nature-based assets are protected from harm amid rapid urbanization.
