World Environment Day, celebrated each year on June 5th, is a day set aside by the United Nations to bring attention to a pressing environmental issue. This year, the spotlight is on biodiversity!
The variety of animals, plants, fungi and micro-organisms that make up our natural world work together to provide everything we need to survive: food, clean water, medicine, and shelter. Some people are not aware that a loss of biodiversity is just as great a threat as climate change to our world today. The loss of biodiversity can lead to a loss of services that nature provides that are essential to the functioning of our society and economy. As an example, most people are familiar with the loss of bees and pollinators and its potential negative effects on our food supply.
As natural historian, Sir David Attenborough, said at the start of Our Planet documentary, “Never has it been more important to understand how the natural world works and how to help it.”
Fundamentally, biodiversity is the key to the future of humanity.
We are lucky to have a walking trail that goes through the woods with a wetland ecosystem close to our house. Unfortunately, that means an abundance of mosquitoes. On our walks, we have seen beavers, deer, and ducks. The kids love seeing the wildlife and the changing water levels with the seasons. They don’t seem that keen on my mini lectures on ecosystem management. I like to hope that some of that knowledge is sticking.
Wetlands are important ecosystems! Wetlands help to sequester carbon, improve water quality, control erosion, helps to maintain stream flow and catches overflow, and provides a habit for many types of endangered and threatened flora and fauna.
On social media, you can join in on World Environment Day by using the hastags, #WorldEnvironmentDay and #ForNature
[Narwhal + Moon] 