December 7th 2022
COP15 on Biodiversity: What Exactly Is "Biodiversity"?
The UN summit on biodiversity, COP15, officially started on December 7. It will take place in Montreal until December 19. This summit aims to establish global norms and goals to stop and reverse biodiversity loss trends by 2050. But what even is biodiversity?
Biodiversity is often defined as the diversity of life. It represents all living organisms like plants and animals (including humans!). It also includes the ecosystems in which these organisms live. Biodiversity also consists of the interactions of living organisms with other organisms and their habitat.
Biodiversity is a safety net. It makes nature resistant and resilient against disturbances like invasive species and climate change. When we lose biodiversity, links in the net break.
Biodiversity is our planet’s natural wealth. How well do you know the biodiversity of Mont Saint-Hilaire?
Learn more
To learn more about COP15, read the interview in AlJazeera of Andrew Gonzalez, Biology professor at McGill University and director of the Large Experimental Array of Ponds (LEAP) at Gault Nature Reserve.
