Biodiversity and Sustainability

Globally, biodiversity is being recognized as a fundamental component and one of the most representative features of the healthy ecosystem. It provides various ecosystem services for human society, which are relevant to local and global environmental concerns. Through constant supply of natural resources and ecological services, biodiversity plays a very important role in the economic wellbeing of societies and maintaining a healthy human civilization, thereby, reinforcing sustainable development in many significant ways. However, numerous persistent threats related to taxonomy, community and ecosystems lead to biodiversity loss and ecosystem destabilization, subsequently derailing the efforts for sustainable development. Therefore, conservation of biodiversity becomes an important aim for effective environmental management. This chapter introduces the major threats to biodiversity, i.e. deforestation, land and soil degradation, together with some of the other associated dimensions such as habitat degradation, overexploitation of natural resources, pollution and climate change. The extent of biodiversity loss is presented qualitatively and quantitatively, and different mitigation measures are suggested to curb these threats. Implementation of conservation programs, policies and regulations including awareness are identified as the crucial steps to mitigate the biodiversity threats and to ensure sustainable development.