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“If bees disappeared from Earth, men would only have four years left to live”.

BIODIVERSITY

This famous quote from Albert Einstein explains well how the future of the planet depends on these insects. Bees are very important insects for us and for the Earth. As a matter of fact, more than 70% of the food we consume comes from their work of pollination. For instance, thinking about all the things that we eat on a daily basis for breakfast like honey, fruit, milk, tea, biscuits, pancakes, coffee, chocolate… a lot of these (unwillingly coffee and chocolate too 😔) wouldn’t even exist without the precious work of bees! But not only that! There are cultures that, though they do not depend exclusively on bees’ pollination when these insects are the ones to carry the pollen from flower to flower, obtain a much bigger harvest.

In addition, we must not forget that these insects are fundamental in the production process of new vegetable seeds like garlic, onion, zucchini, or carrots. Bees also play a main role in the pollination of forage, indispensable for the nutrition of the livestock like medical herbs or clovers (poor Saint Patrick… without bees he wouldn’t have become Irland’s emblem! 🍀).

Therefore these valuable insects, as well as pollinators in general, contribute every day to the regulation of the ecosystems and in this way, to the preservation of biodiversity itself.

But what do we mean exactly when we talk about biodiversity?

Biodiversity can be defined as the richness of life that we find on Earth: plants, animals, microorganisms, fungi, biotic agents… basically, all the variety of life that characterizes our planet.

Exactly these complex bonds between the environment and the organisms that live harmoniously, build the different ecosystems of our planet that are deeply connected with one another. Biodiversity, as said before, reinforces the productivity of any ecosystem. Ecosystems that are damaged are more fragile and have a limited ability in facing extreme events and new diseases. On the other hand, ecosystems that are well balanced can protect us from unpredicted disasters such as natural disasters and, when we use them in a sustainable way. They offer most of the best solutions to eventual urgent challenges. In fact, it has been demonstrated that the loss of biodiversity contributes to food and energetic instability, reduces society’s health standards, lowers the availability and the quality of water resources, and drains cultural traditions.

Biodiversity is also important because it is the source of goods, resources, and services for humans. These services benefit directly or indirectly all of the communities all around our planet. Moreover, they have a key role in the construction of humanity’s and a state’s economy. For instance, plant biodiversity, in both cultivated and wild plants, composes the base of agriculture, allowing the production of aliments and contributing to the health and nutrition of the whole world population.

In particular, the European Union is committed to a long-term plan to protect wild nature and preserve biodiversity.

The European Green Deal’s goal is to transform our community to obtain a more modern and efficient economy in terms of resources to guarantee the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, economic growth, and balance in the development of the various territories. The strategy contains specific commitments and actions to be delivered by 2030.

These are the establishment of a larger network of protected areas, on land and at sea, of very high biodiversity and climate value. Launching an EU nature restoration plan to restore degraded ecosystems and manage them sustainably. The fulfillment of strategies to highlight the importance of stimulating financial systems for biodiversity and setting a new governance framework to spread awareness and respect.

Finally the introduction of measures to tackle the global biodiversity challenge under the Convention on Biological Diversity. Any eventual progress towards these goals is tracked through the use of some online tools.

The pandemic that hit the entire world (and still does) and now also the war in the heart of Europe have surely distracted the population from these priorities. However, we must insist and not go back; in fact, it is often the loss of biodiversity that is the cause of plagues and conflicts.

The European Green Deal will improve the well-being and health of citizens and future generations. It will ensure that, when we finally manage to overcome the Covid-19 emergency, we’ll be able to focus all of our attention on environmental problems.

This way humans and nature will manage to find a way together to a much desired as well as necessary harmony.