Biodiversity, nature, and wildlife are the key to keeping our planet spinning
What is biodiversity?
Biodiversity (biological diversity) refers to all living things in one place or area. This can include a variety of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms that make up our planet and exist in our world. All these species have a place on Earth and help maintain balance in our environments, even the tiny bacteria we cannot see. Biodiversity supports everything we, as humans, need to live: the air we breathe, food, clean water, shelter, medicine, and so on.
Why is biodiversity important?
All over the planet, different species co-exist together and rely on one another to survive and thrive. All living things, including humans, are a part of these complex intertwined relationships that depend on each other and are more commonly known as ecosystems. When ecosystems are healthy, diverse, and balanced, they can provide many essential and beneficial services to Earth’s species, such as food, shelter, and water. However, we can also tell when an ecosystem suffers, mainly due to human behavior. For example, when species go extinct, this indicates something deeply wrong with the ecosystem. Extinction of species can create a disastrous impact that can snowball into food chains being disrupted and whole ecosystems collapsing. For example, an unbalanced ecosystem can lead to increased pests that damage crops and escalating CO2 emissions if our forests and oceans are adversely affected. Therefore, we need biodiversity to keep our ecosystems in check and to ensure our planet has a healthy future.
“If wildlife disappears, our culture is at risk, our lifestyle and our livelihood is at risk,” Viviana Figueroa
Why do we need animals and wildlife?
Wildlife and animals are essential on our planet. From tiny insects and bugs to large predators roaming around the African Savanna, they all play an integral role in our food chains and keep our environment healthy and stable. This can include pollination, especially from bees, pest control from bats and other insect munchers, capturing carbon dioxide with the help of trees and whales, and much more. A lot of people also depend on wildlife for food and their livelihood, especially if they live in a rural area. When species go extinct and nature starts to die out, ecosystems, and humans, specifically those in poorer communities, suffer.
“It’s not whether animals will survive, it’s whether man has the will to save them.” — Anthony Douglas Williams
The biodiversity crisis
According to experts, we are currently in the midst of the Earth’s sixth mass extinction. In the next decade, 95% of biodiversity could be lost, and up to 1 million species are at risk of extinction. Their disappearance will majorly destabilize and disrupt the world’s ecosystems and our life. The most significant cause of this crisis is habitat destruction: humans destroying natural, wild habitats for our benefit. This includes deforestation and urbanization of land. If we destroy wild habitats, where will wildlife be able to thrive and reproduce? The second biggest cause is the overexploitation of natural resources for mass consumption. A good (or rather, sad) example is hunting and overfishing. Humans have started capturing more fish than the sea can produce, causing fish to decrease in population (bluefin tuna are currently endangered, according to the IUCN red list). The third most significant cause is pollution, particularly chemical pollution. Pollution changes our ecosystems' natural state, inducing environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity. And, to top it all off, climate change exacerbates all of these causes; as the planet gets warmer, habitats become less hospitable. This forces species to adapt and find new habitats or die out. All of these factors contribute to the biodiversity crisis.
How can Wildchain help protect biodiversity and wildlife?
Wildchain is a non-profit climate action tool that allows you to adopt wildlife and plant trees to cut your carbon footprint and support real-world conservation efforts. The best part? This is all possible within a mobile game — everyone already has access to this tool, and it’s sitting in your pocket.
In the game, you become a Digital Conservationist, and your mission is to preserve all wildlife on Earth. Actions in the game create real-world impact, and 100% of the profits go toward wildlife conservation initiatives. Our mission is to gamify conservation with fun, transparent, innovative tools. With these tools, you’ll be able to unlock the gate between you and making a real difference.
We envision a world full of wildlife.
Join the pack with Wildchain and stay up-to-date on all things wild:
🌐 website
