We frequently hear and use the term biodiversity in discussions about the environment, climate change, and conservation. Yet many people still wonder about what biodiversity exactly means? Understanding biodiversity is essential, because the richness of life around us forms the foundation of human survival, ecological resilience, and the future of our planet. It is not just an environmental concern, but a recognition that human well-being, food security, climate stability, and ecological health are inseparably connected.
Biodiversity is commonly described as the “variety of life”, but this simple definition barely captures its real depth and importance. It is not merely a catalogue of species – it is a living, interconnected fabric that binds ecosystems together. Biodiversity shapes how forests absorb carbon, how rivers purify water, how soils remain fertile, and how nature continuously renews itself. In essence, biodiversity includes genetic diversity within species, the variety of species themselves, and the diversity of ecosystem across the Earth.
The greater the biodiversity of a region, the stronger and more resilient its ecological systems become. Healthy biodiversity allows nature to adapt to change, recover from disturbances, and support life in countless visible and invisible ways.
Understanding Biodiversity: Why This Diversity Matters For Us?
Healthy ecosystems depend on biodiversity for pollination, soil fertility, clean air and water, disease regulation, food security, and climate stability. When biodiversity decreases, ecosystems lose their resilience. This makes them – and us – more vulnerable to disasters, food shortages, and climate instability. Hence, we can’t ignore the importance of biodiversity in eco-balance for sustainable future of our planet. We depend on this diversity, which forms the base of ecological balance. It sustains our lives – from food we eat to clothes we wear, the medicines we take, and the air we breathe.
Biodiversity Throughout Earth’s History
Since life began on Earth, five major mass extinctions and several minor events have led to large and sudden drops in biodiversity. The Phanerozoic aeon (the last 540 million years) reportedly marked a rapid growth in biodiversity via the Cambrian explosion. In this period, the majority of multicellular phyla first appeared. The next 400 million years included repeated, massive biodiversity losses.
Those events have been classified as mass extinction events. In the Carboniferous, rainforest collapse may have led to a great loss of plant and animal life. The worst, the Permian-Triassic extinction, 251 million years ago, eradicated up to 96% of marine species and 70% of terrestrial species. Vertebrate recovery took more than 30 million years.
Today, scientists warn we may be entering a sixth mass extinction, driven not by natural events but by human actions. Habitat destruction, climate change, pollution, and overexploitation are causing species decline on a scale unseen since the dinosaurs. Human activities have led to an ongoing biodiversity loss and an accompanying loss of genetic diversity. This process is often referred to as Holocene extinction, or the sixth mass extinction.
For example, it was estimated in 2007 that up to 30% of all species will be extinct by 2050. Destroying habitats for farming is a key reason why biodiversity is decreasing today. Climate change also plays a role. This can be seen for example in the effects of climate change on biomes. This anthropogenic extinction may have started toward the end of the Pleistocene, as some studies suggest that megafaunal extinction event that took place around the end of the last ice age partly resulted from overhunting.
The Global Decline of Biodiversity
According to WWF’s Living Planet Report 2024, wildlife populations have suffered an average 73% decline since 1970. Mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish – all are disappearing at alarming rates. The 2019 landmark Global Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) reveals that 1 million animal and plant species are now at risk of extinction – the highest number in human history. Almost three-quarters of the land-based environment (75%) and roughly 66% of the oceans now show significant human-driven alteration.
More than a third of the world’s land surface and nearly 75% of freshwater resources are now devoted to crop or livestock production. Humans have overfished the oceans, cleared forests, destroyed habitats, polluted our water sources, and created far-reaching impacts. Climate change worsens the impact of other stressors on nature and our well-being. Pollution, climate change, and overconsumption are now working together in accelerating the pace of biodiversity loss worldwide.
This decline doesn’t just affect faraway rainforests; it is unfolding in rivers, farms, coasts, and even our own backyards. As a result, ecosystems are losing their ability to function – and to support us – impacting biodiversity, from remote locales to our own backyards. In the rush toward progress, we are unraveling this fragile harmony – often without noticing. Nowhere is this loss more heartbreaking than in places like Borneo, where nature’s once-abundant voice is growing dangerously faint.
Borneo: The Greatest Hotspot Now Under Threat
You might have heard about Borneo, a massive island in southeast Asia, which is home to the world’s most extraordinary biodiversity. The tropical forests of the island host more than 1,400 different animal species, and at least 15,000 plant species. Iconic wildlife such as orangutans, pygmy elephants, clouded leopards, hornbills, rhinos, and proboscis monkeys, and the color-changing flying frogs that share the landscape with the world’s tallest tropical trees to live within its lush ecosystems.
You’ll also find more than 50 species of carnivorous pitcher plants that trap and consume insects and small animals. There are up to 3,000 species of orchids; and slugs that shoot darts at their mates. Borneo’s vast wealth of natural resources, and being a hotspot for biodiversity importance is attracting more than nature lovers. For decades, large-scale, international interests have worked to extract as much as they can from the island – hardwood trees; coal; rubber; and gold, diamonds, and other metals and minerals. The intense pressure Borneo is facing has changed the milieu.
Environmental Degradation At Borneo
Forests at Borneo are decimated to make way for profitable palm oil plantations. Even plants and animals that make Borneo so special are hunted, harvested, and sold on the black market. All this pressure adds up to a landscape that is quickly changing, with nature struggling to keep up.
Large-scale logging, illegal wildlife trade, mining and resource extraction, palm oil-driven deforestation have defaced Borneo. The results are devastating: Thirty percent of Borneo’s forests have been wiped out in only 40 years. We’ve lost half of all critically endangered Bornean orangutans in just the past 20 years. Even the unique species like nepenthes rajah, the largest known carnivorous pitcher plant, are endangered. We’re plucking threads from the biodiversity web and it’s starting to collapse.
Will We be Able to Recover Biodiversity?
Biodiversity is the variability of life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels, for example, genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distributed evenly on Earth – it is greater in the tropics as a result of the warm climate and high primary productivity in the region near the equator.
Tropical forest ecosystems cover less than one-fifth of Earth’s terrestrial area and contain about 50% of the world’s species. There are latitudinal gradients in species diversity for both marine and terrestrial taxa. Despite the crisis, biodiversity has one incredible strength: resilience. It is a hopeful reality that nature can recover, if we reduce pressure on it by protecting habitats, use natural resources responsibly, restore damaged landscapes, and nature begins to heal.
A Future Rooted in Balance
Biodiversity is not just an environmental issue it is a life support system. Every species lost weakens the web that sustains humanity. But by rethinking how we use natural resources, reducing our ecological footprint, and protecting ecosystems, we can rebuild that web. The more we protect biodiversity today, the more secure, resilient, and beautiful our future becomes.
Nature has always sustained us. Now, it is our turn to recognize the importance of biodiversity in eco-balance and sustain nature. One of the most beautiful things about biodiversity is its resilience. Ease up on the pressure on it, manage resources well, give it time, and ecosystem will adapt. Nature and biodiversity will recover.
That’s exactly what WWF is working to do in Borneo in view of the importance of biodiversity in eco-balance– to end illegal deforestation, protect remaining forests, restore degraded areas, stop wildlife crime, and support sustainable sourcing for wood, paper, and food products. Similar efforts worldwide help ecosystems recover and wildlife return.
