International Biological Diversity Day

Today, 22 May 2020, South Africa joins the world in celebrating International Biological Diversity Day. We do so amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Themed, “Our solutions are in nature", International Biological Diversity Day 2020 highlights the importance of working together to build a future of life in harmony with nature.

We are encouraged to “bend the curve” of biodiversity loss.

It requires the agricultural sector to take steps to mitigate the negative impact of unsustainable farming practices and climate change on the biological diversity of our ecosystems.

Not protecting our ecological infrastructure will lead to the collapse of our natural ecosystem.  Higher pollution incidents and an increase in invasive alien plants infestations leads to a decrease in the availability and quality of water. This creates the perfect conditions for soil erosion, land degradation and loss of biodiversity.

The Western Cape has a climate change resilient response and action plans in place.  Called, SmartAgri, it enables us to respond to most disasters such as droughts, floods, fires, animal and plant disease outbreaks.

Agriculture is committed to sustainably managing our biodiversity.

For more information on the Western Cape’s Climate Response Strategy visit https://www.greenagri.org.za/assets/documents-/SmartAgri/Western-Cape-Climate-Change-Response-Framework-2016-FINAL-Online-V2.pdf