One of the major pressures on biodiversity is habitat destruction. As we have seen, a habitat is the ecological or environmental area inhabited by a particular species. The destruction of a habitat is the process where a natural habitat is rendered incapable of supporting the species usually associated with it. In this process, the organisms which previously used the site are displaced or destroyed, reducing species richness and diversity.

Endemic organisms are the most affected by habitat destruction, mainly because these organisms are not found anywhere else in the world and thus, they have less chances of recovering.

Habitat destruction is chiefly driven by the expanding human population and is due to the conversion of the natural habitat into agricultural land, urban sprawl, infrastructure developments, and other anthropogenic changes to the characteristics of the land. Other human pressures on the environment, such as pollution and the dumping of waste, do not involve the overt destruction of habitat, yet they may still cause habitat damage and, if significant, even its collapse. Additional causes to habitat destruction include habitat fragmentation, intentional fires, over-grazing, off-roading and invasive alien species.

Therefore, it is important that the protection of biodiversity entails the protection of both species and natural habitats, catering especially for those which are threatened through harmful activities.

Should you require more information, please contact nature.requests@mepa.org.mt.

The United Nations declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity. Malta together with many other countries around the globe is carrying out a number of initiatives to celebrate life on earth and the value of biodiversity for our lives. We are all invited to take action in 2010 to safeguard the variety of life on earth: biodiversity.

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