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Educating Biodiversity

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Bioresources and Bioprocess in Biotechnology

Abstract

Biodiversity is life in all variety, vital to the continued existence of all ecosystems, life forms, and microorganisms on earth. There are more than 14 million species found from mountaintop to deep-sea vent, connecting and interacting with each other and creating communities and systems. Everyone in the world directly depends on natural ecosystems and its resources for a healthy and protected life. Currently the world is facing an immense biodiversity crisis. The increasing rate of biodiversity loss indicates that current developments are not sustainable. Industrialization and urbanization of the last century inversely affect our natural ecosystems, which in turn increases the number of threatened species. The stress on water, air, and natural ecosystems will rise globally in the coming years if human attitudes and actions do not change. If we wish to assure the continuing health of the planet, we must develop acknowledgeable and motivated community that realizes what biodiversity is and why it is so important. Education is one of the best tools to create citizens having skills and confidence for protecting biodiversity and feel empowered to do so. Education also challenges people to think seriously and productively about their world. The main focus of biodiversity education is to create knowledge, curiosity, and essential skills to solve a range of biodiversity problems with reference to the limited background. For developing biodiversity awareness among students, practical oriented biodiversity education methods should be developed to attain sustainable biodiversity knowledge and motivate to conserve local biodiversity. This chapter discusses the relevance of biodiversity education for sustainable life.

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Correspondence to N. S. Pradeep .

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Edison, L.K., Pradeep Kumar, S., Pradeep, N.S. (2017). Educating Biodiversity. In: Abdulhameed, S., Pradeep, N., Sugathan, S. (eds) Bioresources and Bioprocess in Biotechnology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3573-9_7

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