Biodiversity: Why everyone benefits from biodiversity

Another international conference on biodiversity begins in Colombia. Scientist Thomas Heckler explains why the diversity of biological species can also be useful in combating climate change.

tageschau.de: Mr. Heckler, why is biodiversity important?

Thomas Heckler: Biodiversity is now defined very broadly in research. It is about the diversity of genes, species, but also entire ecosystems. And so it is simply the foundation of our lives. There are estimates about the pure economic value of all ecosystem services to our society. This indicates that global environmental services, invisible to our classical economics, are worth more than the entire global economic output, that is, the sum of the gross national product of all countries in the world.

It's about things like the positive effects of a forest on air quality, water quality, or how mangroves can also protect against storm surges or tsunamis, i.e. important ecosystem services or functions that are not visible in our economic system.

To a person

Thomas Heckler is Professor of Quantitative Biogeography at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main. His research at the Senckenberg Institute is about how ecosystems work, for example how a forest grows, how it absorbs carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and how the genetic diversity of tree species makes a forest more resilient to climate change.

Biodiversity means diversification of risks

tagesschau.de: Why should biodiversity and climate change be considered together?

Heckler: We cannot predict climate change with 100% certainty. We can say that it has become warmer. But for example: when it comes to rainfall, there is a lot of uncertainty. Biodiversity is a kind of insurance, a kind of risk diversification in times of climate change. This means that it is actually more important to us now than it was before. We also know that different ecosystems, such as forests containing more tree species and more genetic diversity, can be more stable in times of extreme climate change.

tagesschau.de: At the last biodiversity conference in Montreal in 2022, participants set themselves 23 key goals. What has already been implemented in the last two years?

Heckler: These goals were very ambitious. In fact, it is impossible to say what has already been implemented, because the next step is to develop a good monitoring system in the first place. It was agreed that all countries should develop strategies – such as Germany's Biodiversity Strategy – with measures to improve the state of biodiversity in order to stop species extinctions. These reports must also be sent to the United Nations. But most countries have not done so yet.

An example of one goal is to protect 30 percent of the land and sea area. But the next important step now is how to actually understand how far you've come. Another example is reducing environmentally harmful subsidies by up to $500 billion annually.

The largest mass extinction since the dinosaurs

tagesschau.de: Why set such ambitious goals when the likelihood of them being implemented quickly is so low?

Heckler: I wouldn't say the probability is that small. We know that the most important factor in diversity loss is our land use, and that in some cases we are not designing it wisely. I would even say that we are better able to overcome the problem of biodiversity than the challenges of climate change.

We need to address both, but with biodiversity it may be easier. We know that targeted nature conservation measures can often be very successful. In our country, for example, the situation of eagles, larger birds of prey or species such as wild cats has improved significantly. Of course, these goals are very ambitious because the situation is very serious. We are losing biodiversity at an incredible rate. From a geological standpoint, there has not been a mass extinction like the one we are currently experiencing since the extinction of the dinosaurs.

Major problems caused by invasive species

tagesschau.de: The keyword “invasive species” comes up again and again. What role do they play in the biodiversity issue?

Heckler: Invasive species are actually a very important driving factor because biodiversity has historically evolved on different continents that were separate from each other or on islands. If you break these boundaries by spreading species around the world through trade, local plants and animals are often not adapted to deal with them.

The classic example is that almost all the flightless birds found on the islands became extinct when sailors came there with rats or cats etc. But we also have many species that can become very dominant because they come from somewhere else and have no enemies in the new ecosystem. Yes, this actually leads to big problems.

What humans can do

tagesschau.de: What can people do to enhance biodiversity? Are there any options at all? Or are you too young to light?

Heckler: But there are definitely options. The biggest lever, as I said, is land use change. This means that what we eat and drink matters. However, consuming local foods can be beneficial. In fact, meat consumption is already a big lift. About a third of the world's arable land is used for animal feed. There are also huge pasture areas for meat production. This means that the need for land will decrease if we eat more vegetables and less meat. Incidentally, this represents a much greater lever than population growth.

Interview conducted by Bernd Grossheim. It has been shortened and edited for the written version.