Vadana Shiva’s article about the importance of biodiversity made me realize how many various species are involved when it comes to this thing called life. After all, the term biodiversity means the diversity of life. Since biological diversity and cultural diversity go hand in hand with one another, it is beneficial to understand how this can affect humans. For centuries we have hunted and gathered many different kinds of plants and animals for our food source. Isn’t it crazy to think that without these 80,000 types of edible plant species available to eat, we might not have gone on to survive? Today in some parts of India, 7,500 of those plant species are used for medicinal purposes. I was shocked at all the different uses of plants the locals use to cure ailments. David Suzuki says “ We owe practically all life to bacteria.” Its funny to think that things like bacteria are why we go to the doctor, to get rid of them- when in actuality they are the reason we are all here to begin with.
When I started to read the Protectors of the World of Plants article, the first sentence made me realize something. In the past when visiting a zoo, I would always hear the tour guide talking about all the different endangered species that are out there. Naturally, when thinking endangered species, I would think of tigers, gorillas, pandas, etc. I never even thought about endangered plant species. It’s not as if there would be such thing as an endangered plant exhibit.
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