Podcast on biodiversity published

What actually is biodiversity? Where are we today? How do I notice the decline in biodiversity in my everyday life? Can it be measured? Timo Landener and Moritz Petersen put these and other questions to Dr Ulrike Eberle, Managing Director of corsus, in their podcast “The same in green” (in German).

The protection of biodiversity – i.e. the protection of the diversity of species, the genetic diversity within species and the diversity of ecosystems – is at least as important as the fight against man-made climate change. A much-quoted phrase is: “How we deal with climate change will determine how we survive. How we protect biodiversity will determine whether we survive.”

However, many people are not familiar with the exact meaning of the term biodiversity and facts about biodiversity are still too unknown. According to many experts, we are currently facing the sixth mass extinction in the history of the Earth. In contrast to the previous five mass extinctions, which were caused by environmental disasters, the current species extinction is caused by us humans. The extinction rate – i.e. the proportion of plant and animal species that disappear from the earth each year – is currently ten to several hundred times higher than it has been on average over the last 10 million years. According to the World Biodiversity Council (IPBES), without decisive countermeasures, this trend will continue to accelerate. The speed of species extinction is also unprecedented: while previous mass extinctions took place over periods of several thousand years, the current loss of species is occurring at a rapid pace. According to the Living Planet Index (LPI), global biodiversity declined by 65 percent between 1970 and 2010 alone – in other words, in just 40 years. An alarmingly short period of time!

Biologist and sustainability expert Dr. Ulrike Eberle discusses precisely this issue in the podcast . Feel free to listen in! (in German)

corsus has been working to protect biodiversity for many years. A particular focus is on advising companies on how biodiversity can be managed and how impacts on biodiversity can be measured. Please feel free to contact us.