Biodiversity is the total diversity of life on earth. So now you wonder, what is diversity?

Diversity means a range of differences. When we talk about things being diverse, we mean that there are lots of different types.

Think of the earth. There are places that are hot, cold, wet, dry, flat, and mountainous. So we can say that the Earth's ecosystems are diverse.

Why is biodiversity important?

Some people believe that plants are beautiful and should be allowed to have healthy places to grow.

Other people know that people and animals depend on plants for lots of different things. Can you think of ways we use plants?

Here are a few: food, air, water, medicine, building materials, habitat, fuel.

People are the managers of many of the world's plants, and we should be responsible for protecting plant diversity.

But we must protect all sorts of plants. Why, you ask? Well, if the environment changes, plants adapt. For example, if it gets hotter somewhere, only the plants that don't need too much water will live.

So, if we only had types of plants that needed lots of water, when it got hotter, they would all die. If people depended on those plants for food, we might be in trouble.
 

What is conservation?

We would like to make sure that plants have places to live and have lots of members in their community. This means we will not cut down all the trees and take away all the plants in a forest. Many people do this so they can plant crops to grow on a farm, but taking away the natural plants sometimes can make the soil unhealthy and the new plants will not grow.

We must preserve plant habitat to prevent species of plants from becoming endangered. To learn more about plants at risk in your province, click here.

A few reasons biodiversity is important...
 
We use plants for medicine. If we let the plants die, we may not be able to find medicines for new diseases.

Plants and animals depend on each other; nothing is separate. Ecosystems need all their parts to function, so remember that when you remove one piece, the whole system may break down.

• Having just one crop of plant can be dangerous. If a pest comes along and kills the plants, the entire crop is ruined. If we plant a diverse range of plants, the crops are more secure.