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Have you done anything to help biodiversity?

#Poll #EvanPoll

  • Strong yes (23%, 50 votes)
  • Qualified yes (38%, 82 votes)
  • Qualified no (22%, 48 votes)
  • Strong no (15%, 32 votes)
212 voters. Poll end: 1 year ago

Evan Prodromou reshared this.

I remembered to add the hashtags on the first try! 💃
I'm not sure what you mean. Like volunteer work removing invasive plants and stuff?
@BathysphereHat so, in general, I don't provide a lot of guidance on my poll questions while the poll is running. I can reply tomorrow though. Just think about it and give it the best answer you can.
@BathysphereHat for me, the fun is thinking through the question together
Yeah, it definitely got me thinking about what the average person can even do for biodiversity.
@BathysphereHat

Probably the easiest and most impactful thing is keeping cats indoors and encouraging friends and neighbours to do the same.

Outdoor cats are absolutely disastrous for birds and small mammals.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/moral-cost-of-cats-180960505/
Oh yeah, good point! I keep all my cats inside for that and other reasons.
@BathysphereHat after that, contributing money to conservation non-profits, making political contributions, writing letters, and keeping native plants in your garden.
@BathysphereHat after *that*, I'd say reducing red meat, since cows and sheep and pigs take up a lot of space that could be used for wildlife preserves.

Anyways, there's a lot an individual can do.
@BathysphereHat get a load of Mr. I-Don't-Answer-Clarifying-Questions

🙄
Planted California native gardens instead of lawns
It's great, native plants look WAY better than the lawn. Then I noticed I was getting all these native bees showing up, so I put up a Solobee.com bee house for them too. So now we have nesting native bees too.
I have not planted any monocultures. But I try to help people understand that nature and biology are messy, diverse and weird. I'm also an advocate for dynamic environmentalism where it's trying to help plants and animals (including us human ones) adapt and migrate with climate change and not some unnatural idea of nature as static and unchanging. We need to help nature move instead of trying to stop it being dynamic. We have to dance with nature not fence it in.
I might be misunderstanding the term, but I'm firmly committed to contributing nothing to the human gene pool
@aeva I assume you're familiar with "have", "you", "done", "anything", "to", and "help", so here's the Wikipedia article on biodiversity:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiversity
@aeva
I suppose so given that I provide the public and private sector the instruments used for research and or clinical testing that can be hand in hand. 🤷‍♂️
If by "help biodiversity" you mean let my yard and garden grow wild, yes, I am definitely doing that. 😁
@thekat03 usually, although a lot of untended gardens fill up with invasive exotics rather than native plants that contribute to the local ecosystem.
@Gina
I had kids, so some meiosis was involved. Variation!
My (qualified) yes was because of a plant-based diet. Plus advocating for biodiversity in many ways through research, education, creative projects, training etc. Directly, I don’t do enough - occasional volunteering for rewilding / planting schemes.
yes, I’m evolving ever so slowly
We have a wild front garden... and back garden

It was a choice
1) to help biodiversity
2) to piss off our Malicious Meldrew like neighbour
3) for me to avoid mowing the damn thing
4) to continue to piss off our Malicious Meldrew like neighbour
5) and because many "weeds" look nice
Yup, that’s literally what I get paid for. I spend every working hour on restoration of habitat for rare and declining species.
I've thought about this for a few hours, and this is exactly the kind of question that has me evaluating larger life choices and day-to-day routine.

For example, consuming an avocado is very different from where I came from (California) and where I am now (Germany).

Also, is it helpful to provide a non-native habitats to endangered plants, or will the energy it takes to maintain various microclimates cause more harm down the road?

Things like that. In short, I still don't know.
another example is this (the Darlingtonia Californica): https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/darlingtonia-californica/

which honestly- is beautiful, interesting and not at all suited to be a houseplant. The natural habitat range is small and getting smaller over time from climate change, land development and poaching.

However, they are greenhouse grown here in Germany and ethically-sourced. But to keep them alive when you get them home takes extra effort and energy (including 0/low TDS water) so they do not die right away.
@chillicampari is there any place you could put native German plants? They contribute to your local food web, supporting insects, birds and small mammals. Let Californians grow those Californian plants where they're needed!

https://www.earth.com/news/plant-diversity-is-declining-at-a-steady-rate-across-germany/
where I live I probably can't do much better than the river itself for local flora (I live at the Danube), so the bigger picture is everyone invested in protecting the river. But I can find out more when I visit the university botanical garden probably.

Plants native to California (and Australia, Africa, so on...) are everywhere here EU-wise already (you can get them in grocery stores here, Italy, Austria, etc.) and I was a bit surprised about that when I moved here.
@chillicampari I think you might consider this is a hobby... a healthy one. The german diversity problem is a different OSI Layer, probably 10. Our government(s) have been punished by the EU government because we dont have enough nature preserves and too much urban sprawl and too many new roads. Apart from political engagement, there's not much ordinary people can do here. But these little plants, as I said, are a hobby, and many friends have benefited from plant gifts, raising awareness.
Wow, interesting results.

I'm glad to see how much people feel they are doing or have done for biodiversity.

Let's keep it up!

Also, the comments here are qualitatively different than the ones on my climate change post.
I did not think I had done anything for biodiversity until I read the comments and saw people saying things they had done that I also have done that I did not think counted, such as keeping cats inside or removing invasive plants.
Dam, missed this one. Strong yes. Worked in biodiversity informatics for 13 years, located in a wildlife conservation charity.
we put native plants in all our flower beds, and weed out invasive when we have replacements ready to go. We also have a family of skinks living under our front step! Added some rocks along their paths for hiding spots.
Lots of things people can do to enhance and protect #biodiversity, whether citizen, business, or politician. Some good ideas here:

https://www.nature.scot/scotlands-biodiversity/biodiversity-what-can-you-do

In so many ways, it’s easier, more fun, and more tangible than dealing with climate. You can so often see the direct benefits of your actions. I recommend to everyone to learn a little and do a little. I’m sure you’ll end up loving what you try. And it’ll help with climate too.
I spent a lot of time in my civil service removing invasive plants. We have no pet. We will change our garden in our newly aquired home more biodiversity friendly and of course eat more often vegetarian. Like no red meat and a lot less milk that some years ago.
But there ist still room for improvement. It would help if this things were systemic encouraged.