Today we celebrate the International Day for Biological Diversity and remember that biodiversity continues to be the answer and solution to many of the environmental challenges we face.

Today we celebrate the International Day for Biological Diversity, a date proclaimed by the United Nations to highlight that biodiversity is a good of great value for present and future generations, also to raise awareness of the importance of its conservation. In 2021, the slogan is “I am part of the solution”, which has been chosen to remind us that biodiversity continues to be the answer and solution to many of the environmental challenges we face.

We must rethink and redirect our relationship with nature because we are suffering a loss of biodiversity at an unacceptable and unprecedented rate due, mainly, to human activity. We are completely dependent on healthy ecosystems if we are to continue to have the basic goods and services for humanity that biodiversity provides.

For this reason, at the Biodiversity Foundation we are working to reverse the loss of biodiversity, which is also a key element of the green recovery, in response to the current health and environmental crisis.

We are rich in biodiversity

Spain is the country with the greatest biological wealth within the European continent. It is important to know this rich natural heritage in order to value it, and to modify our interaction with it to maintain it.

Spain is one of the 25 biodiversity hotspots on the planet. It is home to 51% of natural habitat types of Community interest, almost 30% of species of Community interest, and 64% of species or subspecies listed in the Birds Directive. It is the country in the European Union that contributes the largest area to the Natura 2000 Network. As far as forests are concerned, Spain has the third largest area of wooded area in the European Union and is the third country in the world in number of wetlands included in the Ramsar List.

These spaces need a reinforced green agenda and a blue agenda. Investing in adaptation, resilience and ecological restoration is a safe bet.

Preserving this wealth is essential if we want to ensure the survival and well-being of our society, but also to boost economic development, since more than half of the world’s GDP depends directly on nature.

At the Biodiversity Foundation we are fully committed to building a new model of prosperity that respects planetary boundaries, decarbonised, adapted to climate change, inclusive and also takes into account the rights of future generations.

It’s in our hands, we’re part of the solution.