What is Biomimicry and Biodiversity and why do they matter?
You cannot talk about biomimicry without mentioning biodiversity because biomimicry cannot exist if there is no variety of organisms to mimic. Biomimicry is a practice that learns from and mimics the strategies found in nature to solve human design challenges. Biomimicry is about valuing nature for what we can learn, not what we can extract, harvest, or domesticate.1 One thing that everyone can agree on is that nature was here before us and it will continue to be here after us. Nature is resilient and that resilience inspires innovation to solve human problems. Biodiversity is the variety of different organisms on our Earth including different plant and animal species, as well as fungi and microbes. Biodiversity is the wisdom that we have acquired by examining species that have evolved over billions of years, especially how they adapt to survive when environmental challenges arise. (Figure 2) Our daily lives depend on biodiversity from the fruits and vegetables that you eat, to the air that you breathe. For example, without trees and other organisms that undergo photosynthesis and release oxygen as a by-product, we humans would not have adequate oxygen in the atmosphere. Without organisms such as bees, bats, and other pollinators, the flowers would not be fertilized, making these plants nonexistent and removing most fruits, as well as many nuts and vegetables from animal diets. We, as humans, benefit daily from biodiversity and it has even helped us in finding different medicines and treatments for our ailments and illnesses.2 By understanding we live in a biodiverse world where we (plants, animals, and humans) are connected and dependent upon each other, students will see how these interactions fit the One-Health approach as shown in Figure 1.3
Figure 1: The One-Health Approach is an integrated and unified approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimize the health of people, animals, and ecosystems. It acknowledges that the health of people, animals, plants, and the environment are closely related and interdependent.
Figure 2: Biodiversity is the variety of life on Earth. Biodiversity does not only pertain to the different species of plants and animals, but it also includes bacteria, microbes, and the environment/ecosystems.
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