Restore and Enhance Nature’s Contributions to People
Restore, maintain and enhance nature’s contributions to people, including ecosystem functions and services, such as the regulation of air, water and climate, soil health, pollination and reduction of disease risk, as well as protection from natural hazards and disasters, through nature-based solutions and/or ecosystem-based approaches for the benefit of all people and nature.
Our protector and safety net.
When we discuss biodiversity, we mostly focus on the need to protect it. That’s great, except biodiversity isn’t a thing to protect — It’s the fabric of life, and we are woven into it. We wouldn’t just be poor and hungry without biodiversity, our lives wouldn’t just not exist.
But biodiversity gives us even more than our lives. It is both a necessity and an air-bag for humanity. This target is about everything else we get from nature. The technical term is “ecosystem services”, and they are usually divided into four categories:
1. Provisioning Services
The gifts of biodiversity – food, water, raw materials and medicinal resources (also coming up later in the framework).
2. Regulating Services
Biodiversity creates a livable climate: it’s regulating the climate, purifying water and air by removing pollutants, preventing soil erosion, and of course, the life-giving pollination. Without it we would just not be.
3. Supporting Services
Biodiversity provides nutrients, the source for all life. Nitrogen and phosphorus make things grow (and we contribute our fair share through digestion and relieving ourselves.) Also, photosynthesis! Plants convert sunlight into energy that supports the entire food web and produces oxygen. Every breath you take is made possible by photosynthesis.
4. Cultural Services
The gifts of belonging. Hiking, fishing, skiing, trekking, bird-watching, personal well-being through reflection and spirituality.
This target is actually about gratitude. Biodiversity does not only make our lives possible. It makes them worth living.