Gwangju International Center

SPEAKER: Atonu Chakrabortty
CO-WRITERS:​ So-i Kim

GIC TALK DATE: January 23, 2016

GIC TALK TITLE: Save the Biodiversity! Save the Earth!

Have you ever thought about the connection between biodiversity and Earth? Or about why should we protect biodiversity? Atonu Chakrabotty, today's speaker, explained what biodiversity is. Biodiversity is a term given to the large variety of life on Earth. Why is it important? The main reason is that our Earth is healthier when there is a large variation of living elements. Having a healthy Earth has a deep connection with our life.

Atonu Chakrabotty said, there are three main factors for biodiversity: genetic diversity, species diversity, and ecosystem diversity.  Genetic diversity comes from the organisms having different genetic makeup. Species diversity means that there is a variety of species.  Ecosystem diversity represents the entire environment having an array of different living elements. Mr. Atonu talked about how Bangladesh has the largest mangrove forest in the world, which used to be a biodiversity heaven. 

However, the diversity of species is decreasing. The forest and its animals have been negatively impacted. So, despite the increase in human population, the number of plants and animals is decreasing, not only in Bangladesh but all over the world. 

What is the reason to this phenomenon? To put it simply, plants and animals are losing their habitats because of human development.  GIC Talk speaker specifically used the example of Korea, even though it is a problem that can be seen throughout the world. Amur tigers, Asian black bears and Amur leopards are extinct in Korea.  Mr. Atonu said that some of Korea's species loss can be attributed to Japan's occupation of Korea as, at that time, the Japanese over-hunted lots of tigers. 

He gave us some solutions on what we can do to help. The first thing is to 'be good to our climate'. Some examples were given, such as using the bus or train instead of driving a car. The second thing is to avoid buying souvenirs made from animals, because it can promote practices that lead to animal extinction. Third, he said that we can help save the forests by reducing our paper consumption. We should protect biodiversity because plants, animals, and microorganisms provide clean water, and breathable air. We cannot survive without a healthy environment. Each and every one of us can make small changes to help save the Earth!