Nature's Tapestry: Uncovering the Beauty and Importance of Biodiversity

Book excerpt: We cannot separate human beings from biodiversity. Our vital functions and our health are synergistic with other species. The number of microorganisms we live with is greater than the total number of cells in our bodies. So, separation from biodiversity and its loss are the greatest threats to human survival, and the current model for human development affects our very lives. We must integrate marine and terrestrial life to understand our interdependence with biodiversity. Colombia, a megadiverse country with access to two oceans, is the perfect canvas on which to illustrate this message: nature has sustainable and straightforward solutions to society's emerging problems. The new challenges of a changing environment raise increasingly relevant questions that we must address to prosper as individuals and as a society. Can we prevent a new pandemic of viral origin? How will we feed a constantly growing population? How will the extinction of biological species affect us? Do we function the same as all other living beings? Are our bodies entire ecosystems for other species? Is there a better model for economic development? This book presents an approach to these discussions based on Colombia's biodiversity to uncover biodiversity's beauty and importance: our nature's tapestry. What we have here is an opportunity that we cannot miss.