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Discovering the power of biodiversity and how you can support it
- Carmen Venier
- 12 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Many of us know the feeling of sitting in a back garden on a spring day and watching the world come alive. Bees buzzing between flowers, birds singing, the crickets chirping, and the smell of the soil. We know that the garden is more than a patch of green, it’s full of stories, systems, and species quietly working together.
This invisible web of life is what we call biodiversity, and it is essential to life as we know it. It supports the food we eat, the air we breathe, and the balance of our climate. Yet around the world, biodiversity is disappearing at an alarming rate.
The good news? Nature is incredibly resilient, and we have the power to help. Let’s explore why biodiversity matters, not jus in tropical forests and oceans far away, but in our gardens, cities, and everyday lives. And even more importantly, let’s discuss what steps we can take, starting today, to protect it.
What is biodiversity?
Very simply, biodiversity includes the variety of all life forms on Earth and the ecosystems they’re a part of. This includes all the plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms within a particular area. We can talk about biodiversity at three levels: genetic diversity (how different organisms are from each other within the same species), species diversity (how many different species there are within one ecosystem), and ecosystem diversity (the variety of habitats and communities within a particular area). We want to strive for high levels of biodiversity at all levels for an abundantly healthy and resilient planet.
The benefits of biodiversity (why it matters to us)
A biodiverse world is a healthy one and able to support all the systems we need to survive. This includes our food system. Biodiversity enables a wide variety of pollinators to thrive and help our crops grow and flourish. Diversity of microorganisms within our soils builds up abundant and rich earth that allows nutrient-rich plants to grow. And diversity within a species of crop allows them to be resilient to disease, making sure that there is always food to eat. Supporting biodiverse landscapes means supporting the food systems we depend upon.
Not only does a biodiverse planet enable our food production, it also keeps us healthy. About half of modern medicines currently in use are derived from nature. Searching for inspiration and research from our planet has given us a plethora of pharmaceuticals to fight deadly disease. Maintaining our biodiversity might mean preserving species that may one day help us to further modern medicine.
Biodiversity also helps us to fight climate change and adapt for the coming changes. Diverse ecosystems, like mangroves, can help to protect coastlines in our changing world. A variety of other ecosystems, like forests, peatlands, and our oceans, can act as carbon sinks, helping to remove greenhouse gases from our atmosphere. Preserving biodiversity means preventing climate change and helping us to become more resilient to the coming changes.
What happens when we lose it
Unfortunately, we are experiencing extremely high levels of biodiversity loss across the UK and the world. Deforestation, overfishing, climate change, and pollution are among some of the many reasons we’re starting to see this alarming loss of biodiversity. And, because of the complex inter-weavings of the web of life, the loss of one species can have devastating and unforeseen effects on whole ecosystems, resulting in major ecological changes and potential collapse. This means huge impacts on our food systems and to all the ecosystems that we depend on.
Biodiversity loss also means a huge cultural loss for all humans across the planet. Many species have cultural and spiritual significance. Some are a keystone part of Indigenous lifeways, and their loss will be felt profoundly. You can also think of the landscapes and creatures you know and love. How might these places and living things be changed as we face this biodiversity crisis?
What can we do to protect biodiversity?
You keenly want to protect the biodiversity we have on this planet and in our back gardens. Here’s a few things you can do:
1. Rewild your gardens with native plants.
To rewild your garden, let your grass grow, plant native plants, embrace decay as a way of returning nutrients to the ground, and watch the changes begin to happen. Rewilding is a way to restore ecosystems, reintroduce missing species back into ecosystems, and create a more resilient natural world. If you’re keen to increase the buzzing of life in your garden and support your local ecosystem, rewilding is a powerful place to start.
2. Support sustainable agriculture.
Although biodiversity is key to supporting our food security, the primary driver of biodiversity loss is our current global food systems. Sustainable farming practices focus on trying to maintain natural biodiversity through the preservation of natural habitats, the maintenance of healthy soils, and regenerative farming practices. Where you can, support sustainable agriculture and regenerative farms.
3. Connect with nature to foster care and curiosity.
The more you connect with nature and your surroundings, the more you will act to protect our natural world! Maintaining your connection with nature and continuing to foster your own curiosity about what’s happening in your back garden will help us all to want to preserve those landscapes and creatures that we love so much. If you’re wondering how you can improve your connection to nature, we’re running a free online Nature Connection workshop here at Change Agents UK on World Environment Day 2025 that we’d love you to sign up for here!
Always remember that we, as humans, are a part of nature. We have a dependence on and responsibility to the natural world. Biodiversity isn’t just about saving one species in particular, it’s about supporting the delicate web of life that enables absolutely everything we depend on, from clean air to fresh water to a stable climate. Through preserving biodiversity, we can create a world that’s always buzzing with life. Now time to head out to your garden and get to work.