7.15 - Maintaining Biodiversity

Reforestation and sustainable use

• Human activity doesn't only damage biodiversity - it can also have positive effects.
• Conserving species and habitats is one of the main ways to protect biodiversity.

Reforestation

• Reforestation is replanting a forest in an area where one previously stood.
• Forests have high biodiversity because they contain a wide variety of trees and plants that provide food and shelter for many animal species.
• Deforestation reduces biodiversity by removing the trees, so reforestation helps to restore it.
• Schemes need careful planning: replanting with a variety of tree species gives higher biodiversity than replanting with a single type.
• Protecting the habitats animal species depend on helps stop them dying out - this matters because the loss of one species affects every organism in the food chain that depends on it.

Sustainable woodlands

• Sustainable woodland is planted to meet commercial needs (for example timber and paper) at the same rate it is harvested.
• This means the resource is not used up and the habitat is maintained.

International treaties

On a larger scale, treaties between governments aim to reduce global carbon dioxide levels and so limit the warming that threatens habitats:

• Kyoto Protocol (1997) - Had limited success because many countries did not sign up.
• Paris Agreement (2015) - Legally binding, has far more signatories, and aims to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius compared with pre-industrial levels.