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Published: 04 Jun 2010
What is a bee to you? Or a mushroom that
grows in parts of Finland? Do you consider
yourself an apple connoisseur? A new series
of biodiversity stories developed by the
European Environment Agency (EEA) and its
Eionet partners can help us rediscover our
connection with the natural world around
us and understand why we urgently need to
halt the loss of biodiversity.
Biodiversity
Agriculture Biological diversity is the
variety of life on Earth, within species,
between species and across ecosystems. We
are part of biodiversity and depend completely
on it for our livelihoods and well-being.
The biological world provides a huge array
of goods including food, fibres, fuels and
medicines, as well as vital ecosystem services
such as maintaining climate stability, and
cleaning air and water.
Halting the loss of
biodiversity is one the major challenges
of the twenty-first century. It is a vast
issue, relevant to us all and demanding
awareness and action at all levels, from
local to global. Unfortunately, public understanding
of biodiversity’s importance is often limited.
Despite being crucial for our well-being
and survival, many people are not sure what
biodiversity is or feel disconnected from
it.
The 'Our Natural Europe'
or 'ONE' stories are being developed by
the EEA and its Eionet partners to illustrate
in everyday language what biodiversity is
and how we’re connected to it. The stories
will highlight the variety of ecosystems
and biodiversity of Europe and the threats
and pressures they face, including habitat
fragmentation and destruction, invasive
alien species, pollution, over-harvesting
and climate change.
The first ONE stories
are from Finland and Switzerland
'Web of knowledge, web of life, web of wonder'
tells the story of a little understood group
of forest mushrooms, the webcaps, and the
ecosystem services they provide.
'Circles of discovery' is about organic
apple production and what it can do for
biodiversity.
The ONE stories are also available through
the European Environmental Atlas. The Atlas
showcases individuals and communities responding
to environmental change across Europe. These
first two stories will be followed by others
from each of the EEA member countries in
coming months.
What is Eionet?
Eionet is a partnership network of the EEA
and its member and cooperating countries
involving approximately 900 experts and
more than 350 national institutions. The
network supports the collection and organisation
of data and the development and dissemination
of information concerning Europe’s environment.
