Biodiversity is an Epic People Problem
Photo: Annie Spratt
If you want to get me riled up, let’s talk about biodiversity. It’s a topic that unleashes a storm of emotions inside me. Initially, I get inspired by some new science, like I did while reading the two new studies we’ll cover shortly. Then I get stricken with oh shit terror when I realize the problem is worse than I thought. Next, I get pissed off that biodiversity doesn’t get the air time it deserves. And when the gastric acid settles back into my stomach where it belongs, curiosity emerges. Why are we so checked out on biodiversity?
First, a bit on why it matters. Biodiversity is the natural fabric of life. It’s the interconnected sum total of all the plants, animals (including us humans), fungi, and other microorganisms that not only sustain us, but govern our future on the planet. Without strong biodiversity, say goodbye to reliable sources of food and water. And then throw on top of that a major uptick in hurricanes, floods, heat waves, fires, smoke, and drought. It’s a damn good recipe for creating a world with no humans. So why isn’t this in our daily discourse?
Maybe it’s how we’re wired. Due to a neat little feature of our visual system that’s been honed over a couple million years, when we take in a panoramic view, it switches on our parasympathetic nervous system, which cues us to relax. When we take in the view of a broad natural landscape, our brains say no problem here, go ahead and chill. While in this state, our brains are only scanning for novelty like lions, tigers, and bears. If they’re not in the scene, we miss the problem even though we’re looking right at it.
And that’s when we are paying attention. Another bug in our humanness seems to be the whole out-of-sight-out-of-mind problem. When issues like biological destruction happen in rainforests thousands of miles from us, our brains lead us to believe that it’s not a threat because it happens “away.”
At the other end of the spectrum, when we narrowly focus on a single species, as tends to be the case in biodiversity storytelling (insert the spotted owl here), our brains quickly realize that the single species isn’t relevant to our survival in many cases. Beyond the quick hit of cuteness-induced neurochemicals, the brain says carry on, nothing to see here, go find a mate or some food you space monkey!
Photo: Jeff Johnson
The great irony is that we miss the most blindingly obvious thing - that massive biodiversity loss is an epic people problem.
The big drivers of biodiversity loss are changing land use spurred by overconsumption (e.g., clearing rainforest to graze more cows for burgers), unsustainable exploitation (e.g., fishing all the fish out of the sea), climate change, pollution, invasive species introduction (e.g., putting the wrong bird in the wrong forest). Notice a theme? People. People. People.
We are the self-destructive common thread and we’ve all got blood on our hands with this one. It brings to mind a Joe Strummer lyric from The Mescaleros song Johnny Appleseed, “If you're after getting the honey, hey then you don't go killing all the bees.” So how do we pull ourselves out of this sticky mess?
Turns out some pretty smart people are on the case, and they need our help. Let’s talk about those studies I mentioned.
The first of the two, led by James R. Allan and others, aimed to figure out the minimum amount of terrestrial land on Earth requiring conservation necessary to protect biodiversity. For perspective, today only about 14% of terrestrial land is considered protected, which isn’t enough to do the trick. In 2010, the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity set a target of 17% by 2020, which is considered a bit of a joke among the experts. The new target being kicked around is 30%, which is still under debate, and some estimates go upwards of 60%.
With some whiz bang math and modeling, the study’s authors estimate that a minimum of 44% of Earth’s terrestrial land needs conservation attention to safeguard biodiversity.
There is a wee bit of good news, that unfortunately serves as a smokescreen for a gut punch. About 30.8% of landmass is currently untouched by humans. Take a deep breath and hold some space for that space! Now tighten your abs.
This untouched habitat is disappearing quickly and up to 5% is expected to be converted to human use by 2050. Combine that with the fact that only 14% of terrestrial land is protected, then throw in our terrible human history of not dealing well with such situations, and we have the perfect conditions for a greed bomb to explode. But hopefully not.
There’s more to the story. Enter study number two led by Angela Brennan and others. This is the one that really spiked my emotional cocktail. This group of scientists modeled the amount of connection between the protected areas to help us map out where connection conservation is needed.
Connectivity between protected biodiversity areas is essential for enabling animals to migrate for food and mating purposes, which is proving more difficult with climate change. Without this ability to move freely, we’ll lose critical genetic diversity.
Unsurprisingly, the researchers found that the most connected protected areas were within the boreal forest and tundra. Or, gnarly places that more easily repel human destruction.
They also identified areas with the highest risk for connectivity loss as critical connectivity areas. The shocker is this - 67% of these areas are currently unprotected. And 23% of these unprotected areas are also on land suitable for agriculture. Hear the greed bomb ticking?
So, what should we do about all this?
Fortunately, 71% of the critical connectivity areas overlap with Global Safety Net priority areas, which is a massive plan to help solve the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change. Further, the researchers found that combining the strategies of reducing our human footprint by 50% (destroy less) and increasing the size of protected areas by 50% (allow more wild places) has the potential to improve connectivity between protected areas by 43%, which is way more than either approach by itself.
That’s cool, but don’t kick your feet up just yet. Instead, brace your abs again and put on a helmet this time. The first study we discussed ran into a spot of bother through their modeling.
It turns out that 1.87 billion people, about one-fourth of the total human population, live in the areas that need conservation work to protect biodiversity. Like I said, biodiversity is an epic people problem. In the understatement of the year, the authors pointed out that “This raises critical questions regarding how conservation strategies can be scaled up without compromising social justice goals.”
Historically, we don’t have a great track record with such conservation efforts. Our past is riddled with actions that have negatively affected Indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants, and local communities. Even with the most positive intentions, any actions taken to address this issue requires dancing with myriad ethical dilemmas.
To solve this daunting challenge, clearly we need some new strategies. The authors of the land study outline what they refer to as a human rights-based approach, which essentially relies more heavily on Indigenous peoples’ rights to the land and their demonstrated stronger stewardship of it over time.
Whatever the solutions, I do think we need new storytelling. This can help raise awareness of the issue so it can enter more of our conversations. When stories are told in a way that draws us in, entertains and inspires - instead of preaching and finger-wagging - they’re more likely to move us to action.
My Octopus Teacher did a beautiful job highlighting the power of relationships. It’s essentially a buddy flick between a dude and an octopus. A Jeremy Jones snowboard film makes me want to go explore, which ultimately moves me to protect wild places. The always cheerful David Attenborough documentary inspires a child-like sense of wonder and curiosity. Great stories have the power to connect us and inspire us to change our behaviors.
As my emotional storm quiets down, and some of my curiosity is satisfied, a simple thought takes shape. Biodiversity is beautiful. And to recognize this is a uniquely human thing that’s worth protecting.
Photo: Jeff Johnson
In the words of Stephen Kellert, from his book Kinship to Mastery. “The natural fabric offers a magic well of connection. In this vibrant arena, we enter into a world of learning, experience, imagination, and play. The varying expressions of biophilia depend on a complex and subtle mix of environmental opportunities for human growth and development.”
It sounds like a great place to be, and tell a few new stories.
If you’re interested in what you can do to help promote and protect biodiversity, here are a few basic principles.
Know Your Source - Find out where your food and other products come from and avoid buying products that carelessly ruin wild habitats (e.g. rainforests)
Eat Wide - Eat a wider variety of foods, which will promote planting of more diverse and resilient species (which also helps with your nutrition as a bonus)
Skip the Chemicals - Radically cut back on the use of chemicals on your food, lawns, and in your home to support healthy pollinator species (e.g. bees, butterflies, etc.). This is beneficial for your health as well
Support Biodiversity Work - Donate your time, money, or energy to organizations focused on biodiversity work and protecting natural, wild habitats
Watch a Nature Documentary - You never know what might inspire you to action
The Rabbit Hole (resources to help you go deeper)
The Redford Center - An organization dedicated to advancing environmental solutions through the power of storytelling (for film-makers / budding film-makers)
They have a call for filmmakers to share their short documentary works centered around restoring and strengthening humanity’s relationship with nature. The winners will receive grants and support for their projects.
The deadline for submissions is 10/3/22 Apply Here
IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services - Massive Intergovernmental Report on Biodiversity (highly academic, dense read)
https://ipbes.net/global-assessment
National Geographic - The Basics of Global Biodiversity
