By: Kainat Saif
For a long period of time, we have been exploiting and horribly destroying earth’s ecosystems. The planet loses a patch of forest to cover a football pitch, every three seconds. As much as 50 percent of our coral reefs have already been strayed and up to 90 percent of coral reefs could vanish by 2050, even if global warming and climate change is limited to an increase of a slight temperature of 1.5°C. Ecosystem loss is depriving the world of important elements such as carbon sinks, forests and peatlands, at this crucial time humanity can least afford it. Global greenhouse gas (CFCs) emissions are growing at an exponential rate and the planet, resultantly, is on catastrophic climate change.
The emergence of natural disaster in the form of a pandemic Covid-19 has also shown just how disastrous the repercussions of ecosystem loss can be. By shrinking the space of natural habitat for animals, we have generated ideal conditions for pathogens, germs and plagues including corona viruses to spread to us human beings as their host.
Ecosystem Restoration is a golden opportunity to revive the natural world that supports us all. To form a bubble of life, plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather and landscape work together in a geographical area to form an ecosystem. Ecosystems contain biotic or living organisms, as well as abiotic factors, or nonliving things.
Activities like excess use of CFCs, burning fossil fuels, plastic and black carbon production, deforestation, overpopulation and overconsumption, overfishing, and pollution have triggered soil erosion, abrupt rainfalls, intense heat waves, poor air quality, and undrinkable water all of these compliments climate change consequently destructing ecosystems.
As to talk about recovery of ecosystems; destroyed mainly by human activities, it is important to know how we can conserve ecosystems. To conserve ecosystems, maintaining biodiversity is important. In order to restore ecosystems following are important steps
- Using the 3R approach – Reduce, reuse, and recycle.
- Conserving water.
- Management of resources.
- Planting trees.
- Sustainable development.
- Renewable energy resources.
- Reduction or elimination of household chemicals and pesticides.
- Starting various projects to save endangered species of plants and wildlife.
- Enforcement of environmental laws.
- Strong public policies
- Education and awareness.
Ecosystem restoration is a need of the hour. Healthy ecosystems will clean our water, purify our air, maintain our soil, regulate the climate, recycle nutrients and provide us with better production of food both in terms of quantity and quality. Biodiversity is the key indicator of the health of an ecosystem. An extensive variety of species will cope better with climate threats than a limited number of them in huge populations. Conserving habitat to support healthy fish, wildlife, and plant populations and ecosystem functions in a changing climate. Managing species and habitats to protect ecosystem functions and provide cultural, sustainable, recreational, subsistence, and commercial use during a changing climate. Reduction of non-climate stressors to help fish, wildlife, plants, and ecosystems adapt to a changing climate and will save ecosystems in one way or another. Starting different projects to save and restore endangered species of plants and wildlife will also help.
Recovery of the ecosystem aims to create and build a sustainable environment. Agroforestry: is the intentional integration of shrubs and trees into animal farming crop systems to create social, economic, and environmental benefits is yet another way to rescue ecosystems. Agroforestry can control runoff and soil erosion, also by reducing losses of water, soil material, nutrients and organic matter. Consequently, Improving wildlife and pollinator habitat. Agroforestry can be employed to reclaim eroded and degraded land. Agroforestry works because it’s farming in 3D – the roots reach deep into the earth to cycle nutrients and stock carbon, while above ground, the trees shield the crops and animals against the elements. Agroforestry can therefore solve many challenges of intensive farming all at the same time.
In any case ecological restoration will help in improving the biological diversity on degraded topographies or landscapes, will increase the distribution and population of rare and threatened species, will ensure landscape connectivity, will increase the availability of environmental services and goods, and finally will contribute to human well-being. The restored ecosystem is able to reproduce the inherent species for continued ecological stability and is more adaptable, conducive, and resilient to the environment. The benefits of restoration of ecosystems include and are not limited to highly improved forest quantity and quality, well amplified food security, supplemented air and water quality, climate change resilience, job creation, etc.
The writer is a law student and can be reached at [email protected].