B1.1 What biodiversity gives, and what its loss costs
Example
Explain what a varied wetland gives a community, and what is lost when it is drained.
- Many separate sources of food, materials and medicines — so no single failure can take them all.
- It steadies the whole web — when one kind falters, others carry its role, and the rest still find what they need.
Remember: Drained, its working services go: water held back from floods, water filtered clean, and the young fish and birds it raised.
B1.2 A local issue, a plan, and action
Example
A creek bank near the school is losing its native plants. Plan a response that takes different perspectives into account, then act.
- Ask the people who use the bank first: they hold knowledge the planners lack — where the nests are, where the banks wear down — so the change protects what each of them depends on.
Example
Explain why the plan comes before the action.
- Plan before acting, so the action lands where the problem actually is and the effort clears it instead of missing it.
Remember: Act: plant a patch of native flowers and shrubs — the local insects and birds can feed and shelter in what they evolved alongside; leave the dead wood, which keeps housing woodpeckers and insects.
Summary
- Variety means many sources and a steadier web.
- Loss costs working services: flood control, clean water, young animals.
- Ask, plan, then act with native plants and kept habitat.