Biodiversity Is Essential For Sustainable Development And Human Well-Being

The word SUSTAINABILITY is derived from the Latin word?“sustiner". Broken down its meaning translates to tenere, to hold and sus up.

Even more?important is the verb?“to sustain” which means to strengthen or support, both physically and mentally.?

Makes?great sense:?sustainability means to sustain transformation and change. It?seems that we-humans have much?more?“issues” to sustain mentally than?to sustain physically. Any change?and transformation we are?implementing is often?slowed down or stuck when we mentally can not sustain anymore. The?difference between a good performer and a champion is always in the final mental resilience,?psychological strength and inner balance.?

But?before we even start to sustain our?businesses, sustain our natural?environment and habitats, there is a lot of work on recovery,?regeneration and transformation.

Sustainability needs simplifying of almost all processes with the help of technology and reducing interventions in the nature to help it regenerate

Sustainability is based on 2 transformations: DIGITAL and HUMAN. Both should be simplifying our overcomplicated and overburdened systems and minds.

Innovation is too often?perceived (and also tried out) by adding something rather than reducing, deducting, decreasing or removing something.?

Learning about sustainable innovation is similar to learning about?healthy natural cooking: We have some experience, we experimented a lot, burned some stuff, by accident discovered some terrific spices and ingredients and put them together in an unexpected way - and it was delicious, but?genuinely we want to eat good, healthy and in the range of our budgets. We tried all different?cousins, cooking styles, diets and preparations. But we still have to lots to learn and change. Especially if/when we feel like (or we know that) we?should eat better and so cook?healthier. Lifelong?earning about anything and everything is making our life meaningful and exciting.?

And now, let’a say, after ten?to forty?years of?experience with?cooking?we come to an?“Heathy Cooking With Nature” class. But ind?instead of learning what/how/where to add new ingredients and processes?to improve our diets, we need learn what/how/where to take away, reduce and simplify. We use some simple tricks and?connect different ingredients, but?daily try to cook as simple?as possible, eat food as closer to nature as possible more raw - all in the?need and in the urgency to regenerate our?bodies?and minds, to?sustain longer and live long-er and healthier.?

In nature everything has its place and meaning, nothing is redundant. Sustainability is not about adding anything but mostly about taking away and simplifying, with the help technology. It's about optimising, imitations nature's perfection, where there s nothing to addd and nothing to be taken away. Except for human's imbalanced and overwhelmed systems, steps, interventions and things.

The Klosters Forum 2021

Another super inspiring forum is over - with amazing people, many of them became friends at the last forum, some new added this year. Being together from 7am till midnight with people who have tons of experience, knowledge, ideas and above all passion, dreams, determination and resilience to change the world for good by helping our planet recover and thrive.?

This time we were focusing on biodiversity. Biodiversity is?the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.?

Biodiversity conservation, the practice of protecting and preserving the wealth and variety of species, habitats, ecosystems, and genetic diversity on the planet, is?important?for our health, wealth, food, fuel, and services we depend on.?

Biodiversity conservation?is vital for economic growth and poverty reduction.?Biodiversity?is essential for?sustainable?development and human well-being. It underpins the provision of food, fibre and water; it mitigates and provides resilience to climate change.?Healthy ecosystems clean our water, purify our air, maintain our soil, regulate the climate, recycle nutrients and provide?us?with food. They provide raw materials and resources for medicines and other purposes.?Biodiversity?is the key indicator of the health of an ecosystem.

Sustainable Development Goal 15 (SDG15):?Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss (https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal15)?

It presents an enormous challenge for stakeholders within the food system. Corporations, NGOs, scientists and other change-makers are already working on meeting those goals, however, increased cross-sector collaboration is the only way to tackle biodiversity challenges.

Biodiversity is key to building resilience in systems. This is particularly true for food production and distribution systems.?

The Klosters Forum brought together key stakeholders who can help deliver tools to address this within organisations linked to agriculture.

We were a?selected group of key stakeholders together with the?patricians from?different fields influencing biodiversity?and sustainability?We were discussing ways and develop new approaches to move from an extractive, efficiency-, yield- and low-cost- driven food system towards one that enables nature to flourish and regenerate.

Eleven points of progress and one stagnation on biodiversity & sustainability in 2021:

After 3 intense days of workshops, presentations, sharing experience, listening, brainstorming, discussions and re-thinking the status quo - I would?point out:

11 POINTS OF PROGRESS:?

1. Awareness of the urgency to transform is growing fast: Millions of people and thousands of projects globally are working on bringing biodiversity back.
2. Digitalisation, as applying technology to the?existing business models and transforming them, is becoming the central tool even for the laggards.
3. Awareness of?regeneration, transformation and sustainability is rising exponentially: from organisations, governments, financial institutions and investors, citizens and NGOs.?
4. Agriculture?as the most essential industry?is finally in the spotlight of corporations & governments - ready for radical change to save the soil, water and natural ecosystems while growing higher and healthier yields.
5. People in general love to be included and involved in projects to help and learn by doing; many even?re-skill to pursue their career in?helping our planet recover?through industries’ sustainable transformations.
6. People and organisations are learning from past mistakes; sustainable?transformation is about sharing both success and failures and so helping others learn to do differently and better in the future.
7. People don’t fear change so much anymore; they even aspire and implement change in many different?aspects of life, work, perception and most important: change of mindset and thinking.
8. Oceans and algae are in the spotlight to become the new agriculture - a new food and raw material supply?resource with amazing and broad potentials.
9. Procurement and supply chains processes are?aiming for traceability and transparency because consumers are?demanding it - transparency is?becoming a new normal.
10. COVID-19 helped people?realise that agriculture and food are far the most?important?and the most vital part of survival and living.?
11. People are?realising?that everything is interconnected and that only open, honest and goodwill cooperation will bring us forward and keep us going.

1 STAGNATION:

1. WE ARE ACTING, CHANGING AND MOVING TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY AND BIODIVERSITY TOO SLOW. WITH EVERY DAY, WEEK AND EVERY MONTH THAT WE ARE POSTPONING PROACTIVE CHANGE - WE ARE ADDING EXTRA BURDEN ON OUR AND GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL SHOULDERS. YET, CHANGING IS INEVITABLE.?

BUT: Not so slow that we couldn’t make it up: with interdisciplinary experts working on the same goals, having the same vision and values, building collaborative ecosystems and consortiums of partners.

HOW: With stepping together, sharing experience, knowledge, success stories, failures and learnings.?And take action with less fear and more courage.

Tomorrow is another day. Today is still here. And today is never too late. Starting with even the?tiny steps, with positive thinking, we are half way?there.?

We are privileged to be living in the part of the world where food and drinking water are commodities. But that makes up extra responsible and super conscious to act and help those who don’t have such luxury. Because most of our food (paradoxically) comes from those who barely have enough to eat.?

But we also need to be aware that we are dependent daily on soil, water, air and biodiversity. And these are the keys of agriculture, industry so many industries depend on, food production is just one of them. Therefore the key for us to firstly help nature recover, regenerate, sustain, stay alive and be healthy.?

The road to sustainability is broad and touches almost everything we do and definitely everything we live from. Therefore let's pull up the sleeves, put on a smile and go to work!?

I can promise you it is an amazing route to a more meaningful life, healthier environment, more successful and resilient business models, happier you & people around you, and countless inspiring ideas implemented for good!

Warning: Doing good things for abundance and prosperity of people, health, economy and nature at the same time is highly addictive.?