Commentary: Where history and science intersect
Biodiversity loss is more than a conservation issue; it is a health crisis, threatens our identity and heritage, and affects our long-term resilience. Commentary by Deborah Early. Photo: Supplied.
DEBORAH EARLY
The author is a Marlborough resident and an internationally recognised IOC-UNESCO Ocean Expert, focusing on Ocean-Human Health.
Just last week, we experienced the Marlborough Heritage Festival, TechWeek26, and International Day for Biodiversity. In addition, a webinar linked to the recent release of the national risk assessment from the Climate Commission stimulated conversations on resilience, water, infrastructure, and social cohesion — generating discussion locally, regionally, and nationally.
Marlborough, considered by some to be the birthplace of the nation, is home to 20 percent of the country’s coastline. Our district also is home to plants and animals which are endemic — found nowhere else on Earth — and at risk of extinction.
New Zealand has one of the highest proportions of threatened indigenous species in the world.
It is widely under-recognised that biodiversity loss is more than a conservation issue; it is a health crisis, threatens our identity and heritage, and affects our long-term resilience.
Locally, as ecosystems degrade — changing the places we know, love and belong to — we also lose the interconnected life-support systems which provide clean water, medicines, and food security. We become vulnerable and less resilient to disruptions.
Local resident Christopher Cookson notes, “Marlborough has produced people capable of solving a wide range of different kinds of problems in innovative ways, from the first navigators, Polynesian and European.”
The confluence of our local heritage festival, the national tech week, international biodiversity day and release of the national climate risk assessment remind us of our interconnectedness, that we are stronger together — and that our future sense of place and resilience depends on this.