Biodiversity the importance of nature for ours all future

Biodiversity – The importance of nature for ours all future

Hey guys, today you will read about our experience and what we found out with our project! Below you can see all the tasks and things we did:

:: Why is biodiversity so important?
:: Endangered animals
:: FACTS
about Biodiversity in Switzerland
:: Interview with a gardener
:: Sway presentation: Our excursion to Berne
:: Foreign creatures in our nearby lakes “Greifensee” and “Pfäffikon
:: Quiz about biodiversity

The both of us are much more aware now of the situation, not even in Switzerland,  also around the whole globe. The loss of earth’s biodiversity is also a sign of global warming. Therefore we learned to think twice before doing something that could harm the environment.

Examples
While Shopping =>Where does the product come from?
If we throw something away =>Recycle and waste separation!
Holidays and trips =>Is it really necessary to fly?

What does biodiversity mean and why is it so important?

People should understand that everybody or everything that exists on earth contributes to a big “circle of life”, meaning that every living being needs food and an environment, that makes it possible to live.
We should also understand that without animals, birds for example, we wouldn’t have any berries, seeds or native plants anymore. The more animals and plants extinct, the less variety (Vielfalt) and opportunities (Möglichkeiten) we will have on earth. We have to stop this irreversible process! Biodiversity is the basis of our life, it describes the diversity of life at the levels of ecosystems, species (animals, plants, fungi, microorganisms) and genetics.
In the last 100 years, biodiversity has worldwide declined massively, also in Switzerland. These losses weigh heavily because biodiversity and functioning ecosystems are our most important livelihoods (=Existenzgrundlage).

Many animals suffer of the conditions that are getting worse and worse, because of the global warming and impacts of the agriculture using pesticides and fertilizers. With the massive production of resources, the living spaces are getting destroyed and with their living spaces also disappears their food, or can no longer be accessed (nicht mehr erreichbar).

Examples
Birds and insects (global warming, impacts from industrial agriculture, use of fertilizers and pesticides), the whole marine world (plastic pollution), Polar bear (global warming), Orangutan (Deforestation of the jungles in Indonesia, Malaysia) =>Watch this video, it was forbidden to publish! (aargauerzeitung.ch)

FACTS
Swiss habitats: We have up to 230 different types 1/2 threatened
State biodiversity: 45,000 species  ->1/3 threatened
State of genetic diversity: ->is constantly decreasing
Our conclusion: The requirement for the federal government to maintain the animal and plant species is not fulfilled, so the federal law is insufficiently respected.

The garden of the federal state

Why should the conditions be better in our country?

We have a manifold topography in Switzerland (diverse topography). We have big height differences (mountains and valleys, Höhenunterschiede) with climatic contrasts (Klimaunterschiede), the extensive use of culture lands (extensive Landwirtschaft) until the middle of the last century, Switzerland’s position is in the heart of Europe. [2]

Interview with a gardener 

Priscilla: Was ist Biodiversität? (What does biodiversity mean?)

Biodiversität ist Vielfalt in der Natur, ja so vielfältig wie möglich. (It is variety in nature, as diverse as possible.)

Und wieso ist Artenvielfalt wichtig bei uns in der Schweiz (allgemein)? (Why do you think is variety of species so important?)

Ich würde sagen, eine Monokultur oder Einfalt ist relativ labil, je vielfältiger es ist, desto stabiler ist auch das Ökosystem – und ja. (I would say that a monoculture is naïvety and relatively unstable, i.e. the more variety the more ecosystems’ stability – and yes.)

Wissen Sie, was Sie täglich dazu beitragen können, dass die Biodiversität erhalten bleibt? (Do you know how you could support biodiversity’s protection?)

Ich bin Gärtnerin, also von dem her mache ich das im Beruf schon. (Since I’m a gardener, that is my profession.)

Want to see more video interviews? Just have a look at our excursion to Berne!

Excursion to Berne


Foreign creatures in the nearby lakes

The fight against foreign creatures that are trying or already got into our waters in Switzerland. Especially the condition of Lake Greifensee is concerning, there are much mussels and crabs that don’t belong in our waters. Specialised divers tried to find the species that are not desired in our waters, they’re telling that they are located under almost every stone one each in the “Greifensee”.

Discoveries
They’ve found an American crayfish (a species of crabs from North America), Asiatic basket clams (a mussel species) and another crab and prawn from the Caspian Sea.

However, the condition of Lake Pfäffikon is fortunately not concerning but we have to protect it! They’re writing about how to save the lake with the purpose to keep away these foreign mussels and crabs. As you can walk around the lake of Pfäffikon you can see many posters around the lake describing and explaining the problem and the situation to inform the population.

How to prevent (vorbeugen)
::
Every fisher has to be strictly clean with their boats, especially under the ship where the brass and mussel vegetation is growing.
::But not only with their boats, also the neoprene suits, shoes and paddles have to be clean before getting into the water.[3]

Quiz – test your knowledge!

Here you can fill out a short quiz about biodiversity and check your knowledge. We hope you have learned something and got the idea of what there’s to do for our environment.

Test your knowledge with our quiz here!
Check out our quiz here!
PS, You can take a look at the internet if you don’t know the answers to the questions. You should be able to fill it out without it! The two last questions are based on the BAFU-website [2], you can find some helpful information there…

Thank you for reading this post, and we hope that we could teach you  something and you’ve learned something new. And always remember, to think twice, before you do something! 😉

Written and edited by

Eda Yilmaz and Priscilla Zürcher
VZ18a
Team Biodiversity

Some pictures

Sources

[1] Forbidden Video Orangutans (www.aargauerzeitung.ch)
[2] Zustand der Biodiversitat CH (www.bafu.admin.ch)
[3] Fremde Lebewesen in Schweizer Seen (www.tagesanzeiger.ch)
[4] Swiss biodiversity forum :: About biodiversity (naturalsciences.ch)
[5] Reviewers: Eva Waibilinger (Teacher wkvw)

Got it? Otherwise check out the video summary in German (edeos.org)

☷ See the project teams here »
☵ Some words about the contributions »

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