Biodiversity Beyond Us

Do you remember the last time you had a granola bar? The way the bar would crunch with every bite and the faint taste of honey. Or you hate granola bars and you love Cheerios. Well, in that case, do you remember the last time you had Cheerios for breakfast? The crunch of a circular cheerio and how it comfortably sits in your milk. With the faint taste of honey. Or maybe you don’t like Cheerios and you want something else. Maybe you like eating plain honey–and no judgment, but I just needed to get you hooked. 

Whether you like it, we couldn’t eat many things without honey. And whether you want to slap me or not, this honey comes from our best friend–bees. 

So next time you yell at bees for stinging you, consider life without a granola bar and honey-nut Cheerios. And that’s just one example of a vital insect/animal in our environment.

Without bees, we wouldn’t have honey, the most essential part of our ecosystem. 

Furthermore, without bees, what flowers would they pollinate? If they don’t pollinate a flower, they cannot provide habitats, food, and shelter for other insects and animals. This is one of many important examples of biodiversity and its importance in our world. When one animal/insect is gone, the rest of our environment is heavily affected. 

This is becoming an increasingly serious problem because so many threats to biodiversity are ultimately within our control. 

Threats to biodiversity include: habitat loss from deforestation or climate change, invasive species, which can eat/harm other species, and pollution, which contaminates habitats and kills animals. However, this sounds bad, there are millions of conservation efforts. For example, there are conservation efforts and specific areas for endangered species so that no invasive species can come into contact with them. Not only that, but companies are ensuring that recycling and pollution are reduced. Finally, by educating others, we can inform them so they are more competent regarding recycling and conservation efforts. 

As I always say, we are the change, the reason biodiversity loss occurs, and the ones that can regulate it. 

Works Cited

“EnviroAtlas Benefit Category: Biodiversity Conservation | US EPA.” Environmental Protection Agency, 24 July 2024, https://www.epa.gov/enviroatlas/enviroatlas-benefit-category-biodiversity-conservation. Accessed 11 March 2025.

Hancock, Lorin. “What is biodiversity? | Pages | WWF.” World Wildlife Fund, https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/what-is-biodiversity. Accessed 11 March 2025.