Biodiversity is simply a term meaning the variety and abundance of life on earth. It includes all types of plants, animals and micro-organisms and the complex ecological systems in which they interact.  It includes common habitats and species, such as urban parks and robins, to the rare and threatened natural areas, such as chalk grassland and its associated plants and insects. 

Why is biodiversity important?

Many people agree that biodiversity is important in its own right and gives an area its local distinctiveness. However, a functioning ecosystem is also vital for the benefit and welfare of society because it provides essential ecosystem services, as formally defined by the United Nations 2004 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.  For example, biodiversity provides fundamental services by providing pollination of our crops, or prevents flooding because water meadows to absorb flood water in winter.  The interaction of living things with each other and their environment provides a variety of conditions necessary to sustain life on Earth. 

In addition, the economic and social benefits of areas of high biodiversity have been widely recorded and range from increased tourism and property values to improved quality of life, health and wellbeing (see RSPB 2007 report Wellbeing through Wildlife).

Biodiversity can also be used in some cases as a measure of the health of an ecosystem – in other words, a highly biodiverse ecosystem is often more stable and likely to withstand changes more easily than a less biodiverse ecosystem.  This is becoming more critical as the increasing importance of global climate change is being understood.