Chapter 4 - Conclusion

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2013, Kathryn Pintus, IUCN , "The Youth Guide to Biodiversity" 1st Edition (Chapter 4) Youth and United Nations Global Alliance. Reproduced with permission.

Chapter 4. Verbatim.

In this chapter we looked at the importance of speciesdiversity, particularly in relation to human livelihoods, and at the current status of the world’s species. Despite the fact that the outlook seems less than bright, with many species currently at risk of extinction, there is still hope. There have been several success stories to date, with species being brought back from the brink of extinction through the careful application of conservation strategies. By implementing conservation tools such as the IUCN Red List, and using them to their full capacity to influence decisions and to inform action, biodiversity loss can be halted, if not reversed.

Most of the decisions that can be taken to instigate conservation efforts will be made by country leaders and officials, but they are not the only ones that can make a difference. We are all responsible for the well-being of our planet, and even the smallest of actions can have a positive effect.

There are plenty of things that each of us can do to help fight the extinction crisis: 

:: Make informed decisions when considering what species of fish we eat, to help maintain wild fish stocks. 

:: Be respectful towards wildlife, and only take part in ecotourism opportunities that are responsibly and ethically run, in order to prevent wildlife disturbance.

:: Recycle paper to reduce deforestation. 

:: Spend a minute or two less in the shower each day to save water. 

:: Use public transport to decrease pollution levels, which may be contributing to global climate change. 

The above are just examples of simple actions which you can implement in your daily lives. Think what specific actions you can undertake to contribute to the survival of species diversity. 

LEARN MORE: 

:: Hunter Jr., M.L. (ed.) 2002. Fundamentals of Conservation Biology (2nd ed.) Blackwell Science, Inc., USA 

:: Vié, J.-C., Hilton-Taylor, C. And Stuart, S.N. (eds.) 2009. Wildlife in a Changing World – An Analysis of the 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. 180 pp. 

:: The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN): www.iucn.org 

:: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: www.iucnredlist.org

:: ARKive: www.arkive.org