EXPLORING BIODIVERSITY: A Guide for Educators Around the World

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FINISHING UP
• Have students select a common issue about
resource use to investigate. Some dilemmas
might revolve around the following situations:
animals that were over-hunted and are now
extinct; fisheries that have been reduced in size
because of over-harvesting; forests around the
world that have been wiped out because trees
were cut down without being replaced; grasslands
that have turned to desert because of
overgrazing; groundwater levels in many parts
of the world that have been reduced because of
over-consumption and poor management.
• Once students have identified the problem and
collected data, they should determine which
laws exist to protect the resources they are
investigating. You should be able to get information
on local resource management issues
and laws from your local conservation organisation
or government environmental agency.
• Ask students to write an essay on the question
of how to balance the use of natural resources
with conservation. This is the central issue of
sustainability and sustainable development.
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