“The most dangerous worldview is the worldview of those who have not viewed the world”
Alexander von Humboldt

On September 2, 2008, the administration of the former governor of Lagos state, Governor Babatunde Raji fashola, flagged off the tree planting campaign. Not only that, he also assigned people that cleaned the canals , the environment and created a platform for recycling useful waste products. This action did not only save our environment but also created jobs for unemployed citizens.
The governor understood the need to take action towards mitigating the effects of climate change and sustaining balance in the ecosystem. While majority of our youths today do not understand the concept and the need for maintaining eco-diversity, it will however, continue to have an effect on not only our generation but also the ones to come, will be subjected to our current actions to the environment.

Biodiversity might not sound significant on the surface, but it has a pressing relevance to us. Biodiversity is summed up as biological +diversity, i.e the variety of life on earth. From plants, animals (including we humans), microbes and its habitat.
The importance of biodiversity conservation cannot be over emphasized in the sense that biodiversity conservation or ecosystem sustainability doesn’t just enhance lives but also saves lives . When we overexploit the almost extinct species, destroy the habitat of the surviving species through irrational felling of trees and filling up of the water bodies to create islands, dumping of refuse and sewage extracts in illogical places, we do more harm to ourselves than the environment.

The goal of mother earth sustainability is to ensure an effective and calculated use of earth's produce and to also preserve the natural benefits for economic and human development. This goal has however being constrained by a lot of challenges:

1) Increase in population: excess population growth has impacted the plants and affected biodiversity negatively. The need for food, space and raw materials have resulted in the destruction of habitats, illegal poaching of animals and increased environmental pollution. At this current pace, the earth renewable resources and ecosystem services are rapidly being depleted.
The increase in human population creates pressure to convert wildlife habitat to agricultural and urban land, and also increases the amount of waste product that pollute the environment and poison wildlife will . The solution to this is something that each and every one of us need to work towards achieving in order to reap both the economic and social benefits .
“By not imposing laws to control the population, we are issuing the nature a licence to kill population” Anonymous.

2) Pollution: according to Anthony...."pollution will make you wish you were living on Mars instead of here on earth." Pollution alters the natural habitat of species including the human race. It ranges from water, noise and air pollution. For water pollution, take the Niger delta regions in Nigeria for example. Both the organisms, soil and humans living there suffer on a daily basis because of oil spillage in the environment .
The economy booms while nature suffers. It could have been a balanced affair like it should be if only extreme measures to stop the hazardous means by which organizations explore the home of aquatic inhabitants, causing oil spillage that threatens the life of every living being were developed and implemented. But once effective measures are put in place, there would be profound social and economic boosts.

In the case of air pollution, the combined effects of outdoor and household air pollution cause about seven million premature deaths every year ranging from asthma, lung cancer to global warming, acid rain, smog and the ozone depletion according to WHO.
Recent research conducted during this global lock down that halted road and air transportations showed that the rate of carbon emissions has reduced tremendously. The outbreak of Covid-19 is somewhat considered to be a ‘blessing in disguise‘ despite the lives it has claimed. As pollution is reducing, nature is reclaiming itself. The government has to find a way of making this healing long lasting.

3) Lack of awareness: according to Leonardo Di Carprio, "raising awareness on the most pressing environmental issues is more important now than ever." It is necessary to come up with ideas that relate to the least of the community on the need to conserve our ecosystem.
A lot of people don’t know what it is all about, both the consequences and effect of over exploiting and neglecting the ecosystem and also the benefits to be reaped when it is nurtured and taken care of. From the littlest illustrations, no one is going to be left out on the values, skills and responsibilities necessary in maintaining the quality of life and human health through biodiversity. ‘The only way forward, if we’re going to improve the quality of the environment, is to get everyone involved’, said Richard Rogers.

Franklin D. Roosevelt couldn't have said it any better “a nation that destroys soil destroys itself. Biodiversity is the lungs of our earth, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people," he said.

In conclusion, ecosystem conservation goes parallel with problems of poverty, climate change, food scarcity and conflict among others. The former governor of Lagos state understood this and took conscious actions. Biodiversity does not just exist for ‘nature lovers' but it is in fact integrated into the ecosystems to support humanity.
Our food that comes from the supermarket, our water from the tap and our drugs from the pharmacy or so it seems, all these comes directly or indirectly from nature. These are nature’s services to us free of charge. There’s a need to educate people on family planning and the use of contraceptives to minimize the increase in human population. People need to take actions in disposing waste effectively and efficiently through the right means and recycling the useful materials.

There’s a need to educate and include the youths on the benefits and preservation of biodiversity because the youth are at the forefront of the issue. Africa and the world needs to learn to tap into these gifts from the earth successfully. We need to minimize the way we convert lands meant for wildlife to amusement parks and restaurants because it is the backbone on which our society, economy and culture thrives and survives. Evidence has shown that habitat conservation generates more income than habitat conversion.