The Earth’s biological resources are vital to humanity’s economic and social development. As a result, there is growing recognition that biological diversity is a global asset of tremendous value to present and future generations. At the same time, the threat to species and ecosystems has never been so great as it is today. Species extinction caused by human activities continues at an alarming rate.
Rockström et al. defined the planetary boundary for change in genetic diversity as the maximum extinction rate compatible with preserving the genetic basis of the biosphere’s ecological complexity. We retain the boundary level of <10 E/MSY (extinctions per million species-years). Another metric for biodiversity previously used is the Biodiversity Intactness Index (BII) develop by Steffen & al and which is used in several national application of the planetary boundaries concept.
The biodiversity threshold is significantly exceeded due to land use, resource exploitation, and climate change.
You can find the factsheet here:
factsheet_biosphere_integrity_v2.pdf pdf 554.33 KBExternal links
Belgium
- Biodiversity in Belgium :
- Belgian Biodiversity Platform (Dutch)
- Biodiversité de Belgique (French)
- Définition simple de la biodiversité (French)
- Portail de la biodiversité en Wallonie
- Conséquences des changements climatiques sur la biodiversité