Biodiversity

Biodiversity, abbreviated from biological diversity, is defined as the diversity of life. It is mainly perceived as the large number of different animals and microorganisms. Worldwide about 1.75 million different species have presently been identified, however, many environments and groups of organisms are not well studied and estimates of species numbers range from 3 to 100 million. On a smaller scale biodiversity includes genetic diversity, which is the genetic variability within a species that ensures that a population is well protected from interbreeding and has resilience to environmental change, diseases or other environmental impacts. On a large scale biodiversity is considered to include the variety of ecosystems that exist on Earth.

At the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, two legally binding agreements, the Convention on Climate Change, and the Convention on Biological Diversity were signed. The latter is the first global agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. More than 180 countries have now ratified the biodiversity convention . Australia ratified the convention 18 June 1993.

The Convention has three main goals:

• The conservation of biodiversity,
• Sustainable use of the components of biodiversity, and
• Sharing the benefits arising from the commercial and other utilization of genetic resources in a fair and equitable way

On a national level the conservation of biodiversity is addressed by the National Strategy for the Conservation of Australia's Biological Diversity. The goal of this strategy is to protect biological diversity and maintain ecological processes and systems .

Specifically to address the conservation of marine biodiversity the parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity agreed on a program of action for implementing the Convention: the "Jakarta Mandate on Marine and Coastal Biological Diversity", adopted in 1995. The Convention adopted in a programme of work, focusing on integrated marine and coastal area management, sustainable use of living resources, protected areas, mariculture and alien species .

The Great Barrier Reef Seabed Biodiversity Project

From 2003 until 2006,this project will map sea floor habitats and their associated marine life across the length and breadth of the Marine Park. Scientists will collect samples at approximately 1,500 sites in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. The information they collect will help protect and conserve this precious marine region. Read more ....

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