100 animal and plant species become extinct every day

What is biodiversity all about and why is it important?
Biodiversity refers to:

• Species diversity: diversity within different plant and animal species

• Habitat diversity: diversity of all habitats

• Genetic diversity: diversity within individual species that serves as a way for populations to adapt to changing environments making them more likely to survive

The World Economic Forum's 2023 Global Risk Report identifies the loss of biological diversity as the fourth most pressing global risk over the next decade. The alarming decline in biodiversity presents a formidable threat to humanity. But why?

In its Living Planet Report, the WWF has measured a 69 percent decline in wildlife populations over the past forty years. 14,000 animal populations studied have more than halved. At the same time, there's been a significant rise in the population of livestock kept by humans, far exceeding the combined mass of all wild animals. Furthermore, certain wild species are capitalizing on climate change, proliferating rapidly, as seen with mosquitoes and ticks.

Whether it’s fertile soils, clean water or fresh air, human survival depends on an intact nature, robust ecosystems, and rich biodiversity. Planet Earth is still providing these "services" for us at the moment – not to mention the unique benefits of a high diversity of species:

• Medicinal substances from plants and fungi, many of which are yet unexplored and have the potential to combat previously incurable diseases

• Food such as cereals, potatoes or fruit depend on a high variety of pollinating insects

• Renewable raw materials such as wood and oil plants or fibers such as cotton have invaluable economic value

• The potential for innovations based on nature’s perfect technologies is gigantic – keyword bionics
  

The COVID-19 pandemic has also underscored that human health is intricately linked to the health of ecosystems Destruction of natural habitats, such as deforestation for agriculture and grazing land, brings wild animal populations into closer contact with livestock and humans, increasing the risk of disease transmission. More than 60 percent of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted from animals to humans, with the majority originating from wild animals.

The Federal Republic of Germany even has an official "National Strategy on Biological Diversity". Ever heard of it? Probably not - species extinction seems to have a visibility issue.

Neither the 14 international conferences on biodiversity since 1994 nor the 'United Nations Decade on Biodiversity' from 2010 to 2020 brought more awareness to the issue of species extinction or concrete political successes.

It wasn't until the 15th World Nature Conference (COP 15) in Montreal, Canada, in December 2022, that the global community finally agreed to combat the loss of biological diversity, restore ecosystems, and protect the rights of indigenous peoples. This was achieved through the adoption of the International Framework Agreement for the Global Protection of Biodiversity, the 'Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).'

The next World Nature Conference will take place at the end of 2024 in Brazil (COP 16). In addition, in a new attempt, the UN declared the 'Decade on Ecosystem Restoration' in 2021.

A key goal is to place at least 30 per cent of the world's land and marine area under effective protection by 2030. In total, the agreement contains four long-term goals to be achieved by 2050, as well as 23 medium-term goals to be achieved by 2030. Read more here.

Shortly before COP 15, the European Parliament and the European Council reached a provisional agreement on an EU regulation on deforestation-free supply chains. This means that certain goods placed on the EU market may no longer contribute to deforestation and forest degradation in the world. Among other things, this concerns raw materials used for textiles. Therefore, VAUDE is currently very intensively involved in the topic of a deforestation-free supply chain. Further information on this resolution can be found here. These resolutions are important and necessary, because the planetary boundaries clearly show that the scope with regard to biodiversity as well as land use change has long since been abandoned.

The loss of biodiversity requires rapid action, which is also what NABU (only in German) is calling for. After the GBF was announced, disillusionment set in, because the agreement is not enough to stop or reverse the loss of biodiversity and ecosystems. Therefore, at the European and national level, the goals must be re-sharpened and made measurable, and clear measures for implementation must be proposed.

Our cooperation partner, the WWF Germany, has identified the following primary causes for the loss of biological diversity:

• The loss, fragmentation and degradation of habitats, especially through conversion for agriculture;

• Overexploitation of animal and plant species and practices that threaten the survival of the species, particularly in hunting and fishing;

• Pollution of soils, inland waters, seas and coasts, in particular acidification of the seas

• The spread of invasive species and genes;

• The effects of climate change; and

• Subsidies and economic incentives that harm biodiversity.

VAUDE was one of the first companies to carry out a Biodiversity Check as part of the EU Business & Biodiversity Campaign  as early as 2010. In a workshop involving the entire management team and numerous executives, guided by the Bodensee Foundation, we identified the impacts of our business activities on biodiversity. We aimed to understand how our company could benefit from biodiversity and what measures we should take to protect it.

We then commissioned an external consultancy agency to create a Biodiversity Concept for our Tettnang-Obereisenbach site and implemented it. More about it here.
One of the causes attributed to the loss of habitats and species is the alteration of land use, such as the conversion of forests into agricultural land. As a company, we recognize our responsibility to ensure that our supply chains operate without deforestation. We outline our approach to this issue on this page.

You can make a contribution with your personal shopping behavior. Looking for ideas? Take a look at www.nachhaltiger-warenkorb.de.

Biodiversity can also be promoted in your own garden or on your balcony with minimal effort. The WWF has a few good tips for achieving this.

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