The Sustainable goal I’m working in is the number 15. “Life on Land: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.” The target indicator that I choose was the 15.5 which indicates the following. “Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species.” My research question would be why it is so important is to take care of habitat loss for us humans. The kind of research I will need to do is about why protecting the habitat and animal species is relevant to us, and also about, how can we be more aware and conscious about it.
I choose this SDG since I consider that taking care of our environment and the loss of biodiversity is one of the most important current problems in the Earth and we are not caring as much as we should about it. Loss of biodiversity is known as the extinction of species such as animals or plants. From the time when humans first occupied Earth, before even the beginning of agriculture, small groups of humans began to hunt animals and gather food to stay alive. Since then this had made an impact on biodiversity. But In the last 50 years the population of humans on Earth has increased from 3 billion to 7 billion people. This increase of people makes the development of agriculture much bigger accelerating enormously during the past 500 years. This food and farming increase will only make more degradation to our environment. Overexploitation of natural resources and environmental degradation have accelerated this quickly has affected global biodiversity. Species are becoming extinct, and ecosystems are either damaged or disappearing. An estimated 80% of the original forest that covered the Earth 8,000 years ago has been cleared, damaged or fragmented. The human population is predicted to reach around 10 billion by 2050. As the population increases, food and farming will also have to increase, or malnutrition will occur. The causes of loss of biodiversity could be, (according to the Convention of Biological Diversity) direct or indirect human activities. Direct human drivers include changes in local land use, species introductions or removals, harvesting, air and water pollution, and climate change. Indirect human actions include demographic, economic, technological, and cultural and religious factors.
One of the major causes of extinction and loss of biodiversity is deforestation. An estimated 18 million units of forest are lost each year due to human practices. Habitat loss is identified as a main threat to 85% of all species. This is possibly the greatest threat to species. This would affect us because we are part of it. We eat wild plants, fish and game. Our drinking water is purified by forests and wetlands. Bacteria break down our wastes. And many types of plants, bacteria and fungi help to cure disease and maintain health. Experts say that humans driving extinction faster than species can evolve. “For the first time since the dinosaurs disappeared, humans are driving animals and plants to extinction faster than new species can evolve.” One of the world’s experts on biodiversity has warned. “Measuring the rate at which new species evolve is difficult, but there’s no question that the current extinction rates are faster than that; I think it’s inevitable,” said Stuart. Stuart said that the rate of loss could reach 10,000 times the background rate in two decades. “Some people claim it already is that … things can only have deteriorated because of the drivers of the losses, such as habitat loss and climate change, all getting worse.” Another major cause of biodiversity is overexploitation (overhunting, overfishing) Pollution, from burning fossil fuels to dumping 19 billion pounds of plastic into the ocean every year. The effects of loss of biodiversity are mainly that the fewer animals there are, the fewer humans we will have. Also, that the variety of species on Earth, whether they’re plants, animals or microscopic organisms, are vital to keep the world’s many ecosystems healthy, balanced and thriving.
We decided to interview organizations and foundations that take care degradation of natural habitats, the loss of biodiversity, and endangered species by asking them a series of questions like for example. Do business and companies affect animal extinction? What endangered species are most affected by illegal trafficking and poaching? How can we reduce the number of endangered species? How can we reduce the number of endangered species? How can we reduce the number of endangered species? What can we do as community to make people stop killing the animals? What is the main reason of extinction of biodiversity and natural habitats? What have you done to reduce habitat loss and extinction of species? What factors do you look for when choosing who to help? And, How can animal and environment extinction affect us humans?