Every year on May 22, the world celebrates International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB). This year’s theme is “From Agreement to Action: Build Back Biodiversity.” The theme highlights the need to move beyond mere pledges and take concrete steps to protect and restore biodiversity.
Biodiversity is the variety of life on Earth. It includes all living organisms, from the smallest bacteria to the largest whales. Biodiversity is essential for life on Earth. It provides us with food, water, medicine, and other resources. It also helps to regulate the climate and protect us from natural disasters.
However, biodiversity is under threat. Human activities, such as deforestation, pollution in its many forms, invasive species introductions, and climate change brought about by such activities, are causing the extinction of species at an unprecedented rate. In the past 50 years, we have lost an estimated 60 percent of the world’s wildlife.
We can still do a lot to help biodiversity recovery by changing our behaviour and taking steps to protect and restore nature.
The Environmental Awareness Group (EAG) and its partners have been working to preserve biodiversity on the offshore islands in the Northeast Marine Management Area (NEMMA) for over 20 years, and on Redonda since 2017. We do this by conducting regular invasive species monitoring to prevent reintroduction of rats, mongooses, and other species that have proven to be destructive to the native ecosystems.
This work resulted in the recovery of the Antiguan Racer and the return of migratory birds that pass through the Caribbean (between fall and spring) to escape the cold conditions in their usual habitats in the north. Some migratory bird species nest on our offshore islands; with rats and other invasive species present, they would avoid nesting there.
Redonda demonstrates a spectacular example of ‘building back biodiversity’, with being transformed from a barren moonscape to a vegetation covered island that hosts thousands of seabirds, is home to 15 land bird species that have returned to the island, and has had an eightfold increase in the Redonda Ground Lizard population- just to list a few of the biodiversity recovery we have witnessed. The biodiversity building continues with work on eradicating invasive plants, exploring the feasibility of reintroducing native species, conducting marine monitoring and surveillance, and establishing the Redonda Ecosystem Reserve, the upcoming Protected Area that will include the island, its surrounding seagrass beds, and a largely intact 180 km2 coral bank.
The National Parks Authority (NPA) and the Elkhorn Marine Conservancy (EMC) are also involved with biodiversity restoration work, developing programmes to outplant coral grown in nurseries into the natural coral reef environment to encourage greater coral growth and increase overall reef health and resilience.
Many other conservation-focused and civil society organisations have been doing wonderful work, helping to preserve and build back biodiversity by effective management of invasive lemongrass that poses a threat to native flora and fauna because of its aggressive growth characteristics and high fire risk, maintaining seed banks from native plant life, partnering with sea turtle monitoring on beaches around Antigua and Barbuda, and developing sustainable food production techniques- to list a few.
The work of these CSOs is an example of how we can all take action, and we encourage everyone to become involved in the effort to “build back biodiversity”.
Here are a few ways to contribute:
- Adapt sustainable consumption habits like insisting on supporting local food production and sustainable businesses.
- Recycle and compost to reduce carbon footprint.
- Get involved in conservation and sustainable development projects with community-based organizations.
By working together, we can build a more sustainable future for ourselves and for generations to come.