Organisations cannot work in isolation as they constantly interact with the environment – they take natural resources and give back wastes. Today, there is in existence over 10 million different species of animals (including humans), plants, fungi and microbial organisms living on earth in a variety of habitats. Together, they make up the biodiversity of Planet Earth.
In recognition of the great importance of the environment to the sustenance of life, the United Nations designated June 5 as the World Environment Day, which provides an opportunity for organizations and individuals to evaluate and understand their two-way interaction with the environment and build resilient businesses.
As in the past, Nigeria will join the rest of the world to mark the day. It is commendable that the Nigeria Conservation Foundation, in collaboration with Niles Logistics Support Services, will step its campaign to educate Nigerians on the need to sustain and responsibly utilize Nigeria’s biodiversity. In the run up to the UN World Environment Day, there is need to realize that the basic tasks before us, aside from securing and protecting our environment, include continuing the inventory of all species, as many of them have yet to be identified and catalogued, and developing technologies that can be used to set up enterprises especially in using the country’s stupendous blue ecosystem wealth in a sustainable way. For these and other tasks, we need manpower, including scientists and researchers, as well as entrepreneurs with a “Blue Economy” mindset.
Humans use at least 40,000 species of plants and animals on a daily basis. Many people around the world still depend on wild species for some or all of their food, shelter and clothing. All our domesticated plants and animals came from wild living ancestral species. In addition, with almost 40 per cent of the pharmaceuticals used in the world are either based on or synthesized from natural compounds found in plants, animals or microorganisms. Scientists estimate that biodiversity underlies everything from food production to medical research.
Sustainability of our natural environment is therefore not about saving resources, rather it is a mechanism for using available resources in smarter ways, ways that would guarantee future supply and profitability. This is referred to as Responsible Business.
There is a clear and present need consistently highlight the dynamic, continually evolving and interconnected nature of people and the environment, to underscore the notion that social and biological dimensions are interrelated. Biodiversity recognizes that human use, knowledge, and beliefs influence, and in turn are influenced, by the ecological systems of which human communities are a part. The relationship also includes the species, land and seascapes, and the cultural links to the places where we live. These are important to our wellbeing as they all play a role in maintaining a diverse and healthy planet.
In the emerging reality, business leaders must encourage their organisations to engage in responsible practices that encompass innovations in sustainable environmental management in all areas of their operations.
Major direct threats to biodiversity include habitat loss and fragmentation, unsustainable resource use, invasive species, pollution, and global climate change. Much as the earth has always experienced changes and extinctions, today they are occurring at an unprecedented rate, principally a result of our anthropocentric mindset which needs be discussed. While we might not be able to prevent all negative human impacts on biodiversity, and with knowledge we can work to change the direction and shape of our effects on the rest of life on Planet Earth.
The realization by individuals and organizations in Nigeria that environmental concerns should finally find its way from strategy and boardroom meetings to operations is heartwarming. In Nigeria today, a growing number of companies have realized that implementing environmentally friendly policies is strategic to their survival and indeed the entire mankind. Such companies and their leaders need to be recognized and encouraged. It is noteworthy that the Nigeria Conservation Foundation and Niles Logistics Support Services are actively engaged in actualizing this objective through the Biodiversity Colloquium and Green Awards holding in June.
• Patrick Imo, Project Manager of Infrastructure Quarterly, wrote from Lagos.