Without pollinators, plants need more chemical pesticides, which can affect the quality and safety of the product. 

Without healthy ecosystems, we’re more at risk of crop failure, resource depletion, and supply chain disruption. And since many investment portfolios include agricultural commodities, that means you’ll feel it in your wallet. 

You see, biodiversity isn’t just about the variety of ecosystems and life on Earth. It’s also about the need to have healthy genetic differences between different types of crops, breeds of livestock, and habitats. It’s well known, for example, that areas with higher genetic diversity are also more resilient against diseases.* Which keeps our ecosystems, economies, and people functioning and healthy.

Basically, a richer planet enriches us all.

But biodiversity is under threat from climate change, pollution, invasive species, over-exploitation, and growing cities and populations, among other factors. 

That’s why we’re celebrating this year’s International Biodiversity Day all year round—not just on one day. 

With that in mind, we’ve put together a list of 7 ideas for how to improve biodiversity that you can start putting into practice right now. 
Let’s take a look. 

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The International Day for Biodiversity is a UN-approved day that’s celebrated all over the world on May 22nd. The aim is to raise awareness of the importance of biodiversity and the need to protect it. 
World Biodiversity Day, as it’s also known, is part of UN efforts to promote the Sustainable Development Goals and the Biodiversity Plan. 

The theme of the International Day for Biodiversity 2024 is “Be part of the plan,” meaning the Biodiversity Plan. It’s a call to action for everyone from governments to local communities to businesses and individuals to get involved in protecting biodiversity and find ways to collaborate with each other.

Individuals and community or non-governmental organizations are crucial for building back biodiversity. Here are seven ways you can make a difference: 

This helps foster a sense of ownership and responsibility towards local ecosystems. Educate community members on sustainable practices and the value of biodiversity so they feel more motivated to protect it.

By coming together, you can create a ripple effect that both enhances your local environment and sets an example for others. 

Projects like I-CHANGE get people involved in collecting climate change data. This makes a valuable contribution to scientific research, which can then be used to push for policy changes. For example, some citizen science projects focus on how to improve biodiversity by monitoring biodiversity indicators, species populations, and habitat health. This contributes valuable data on what’s changing and what we need to do to protect biodiversity.

Your observations matter and every data point you contribute builds a clearer, more actionable picture that can shape pivotal environmental policies.

This helps hold governments, businesses, and other stakeholders accountable for their conservation commitments. For example, the Earth Journalism Network (EJN) offers reporting grants to support production of stories highlighting previously unveiled threats to biodiversity or exploring new conservation-based solutions.

When you shine a spotlight on biodiversity issues, you help educate others, so they can make more informed choices. 

You can advocate for laws and regulations that protect and prioritize biodiversity. This might be protected area designations, sustainable land use planning, and wildlife protection laws. Your voice is powerful—advocating for robust biodiversity laws ensures that our natural heritage is protected for future generations to enjoy and benefit from.

You can also advocate for and respect the rights of indigenous people, women, and girls to have equal access to the environment and its benefits—and a seat at the table in decision-making and actions.

Every cent you spend is a vote for the world you want to live in, so choose more sustainable options to encourage industries toward greener solutions. For example, prioritize local, seasonal food and Fair Trade items; eat less meat; buy consumer goods like phones and clothes that last; avoid ‘fast fashion’ and built-in obsolescence.

Let businesses know what you want—and what you won’t put up with. 

Wise up to the impact of chemicals on the environment. Learn how your use of chemicals in detergents, pesticides, cosmetics, etc. affects biodiversity, so you can make more sustainable choices. 

This makes a huge difference to your carbon footprint. You can also try to use public transport whenever you can to reduce pollution from private vehicles. And ask your boss if you can work from home to reduce pollution and congestion caused by your commute to work. 

We all have a role to play in preserving biodiversity, whether we’re engaging with community groups, politicians and scientists or making different choices in the supermarket. Every action we take–alone or with others–makes for more robust, joined up conservation efforts.  

Together, empowered by knowledge and united by common goal, we can turn the tide on biodiversity loss and work to restore a thriving planet. 

So get involved, lead the change, and become an example to follow by making every day a day for biodiversity.

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