Native Plants As Habitat For Wildlife - Native Plant Society of ...

Saskatchewan Biodiversity Action Plan
Lin Gallagher
Biodiversity Specialist, Saskatchewan Environment and Resource Management
The Government of Saskatchewan has publicly committed to the development of a
Saskatchewan Biodiversity Action Plan to guide the actions of government to conserve
our province’s biological resources for present and future generations.
The Action Plan will provide an umbrella for provincial actions over a five year period to
manage human activities and use of the provinces natural resources in order to maintain
ecosystem, species and genetic diversity and the natural processes that shaped them
What is Biodiversity
Biodiversity (short for biological diversity) is the spectacular variety of life on earth and
the essential interdependence among all living things.
The Convention on Biological Diversity, June 1992 defines biodiversity as:
“The variability among living organisms from all sources, including among others,
terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which
they are a part; this includes diversity within species and between species and diversity of
ecosystems.”
Biodiversity is usually considered at three levels including:
• Genetic Diversity - variability in the genetic composition of individuals within or
among species and their populations.
• Species Diversity - the number and variety of species found in a given area.
• Ecosystem Diversity - the variety of ecosystems found within a region, where
ecosystem means a dynamic complex of plant, animal and microbial communities
and their non-living environment interacting as a functional unit.
What is the Value of Biodiversity
The benefits of conserving biological diversity are numerous. Biological diversity is the
primary source for fulfilment of humanities needs and provides a basis for adaptation to
changing environments. An environment rich in biological diversity offers the broadest
array of options for sustainable economic activity, for nurturing human welfare and for
adapting to change.
The world’s species provide us with all our food and many medicines and industrial
products. For example, the fishing, forestry and to some extent agriculture industries rely
on the harvest of biological resources from the wild.
Benefits arising from the conservation of Saskatchewan’s biological diversity are not
however restricted to the continued harvest of resources, they include the provision and
2