What is it?
Biodiversity (Biological diversity) means “the variety of
all life forms”.
Biodiversity refers to the variety of living organisms
associated with land and water - the different plants, animals and
micro-organisms, the genetic information they contain, and the
ecosystems they form.
Why is it important?
Biodiversity underpins the processes that make life possible. An
intact biodiversity is critical to the functional integrity of all
ecosystems (
Roth et al. 2002 ). Healthy ecosystems are necessary for
maintaining and regulating atmospheric quality, climate, fresh
water, marine productivity, soil formation, cycling of nutrients
and waste disposal. For these functions, redundancy is required in
system components for system resilience.
Biodiversity also supports economic activities, with Australian
plants and animals attracting tourists and providing food,
medicines, energy and building materials. Our biodiversity is a
reservoir of resources that remains relatively untapped.
Biodiversity has spiritual and recreational significance for
most people and is central to the cultures of Aboriginal people.
[see the Caring
for Country Plan ]. For more information on biodiversity and
its values and services, click
here .
Don’t read this if you know it already:
Why Farmers Care About Biodiversity
Biodiversity is of great value within the Burdekin Dry Tropics
region, although its values and services also extend well beyond
the regional boundary to include national and international
benefits. For more information, see Biodiversity in the BDT Region .
BDTNRM Plan
As described more fully in the Burdekin Dry Tropics Natural Resource
Management Plan 2005-2010 , the BDTNRM’s targets and
management actions for conserving biodiversity falls into 4
broad themes, under the umbrella of the Biodiversity Programme.
Biodiversity conservation also overlaps with other asset Programmes
including Surface Water and Wetland, Coats and Marine, and Land
Soils and Agriculture.