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maltatoday | SUNDAY • 25 OCTOBER 2020 12 NATURE Malta's ecosystem at risk of collapse - study A recent study has named Mal- ta in the top five countries at risk of ecosystem collapse as a result of a decline in biodiversi- ty services. Countries globally depend on biodiversity and ecosystem ser- vices for food production, water security and regulation of local air quality, which are vital to help maintain the health and stability of their communities and economies. The Biodiversity and Ecosys- tem Services Index developed by Swiss Re Institute – one of the world's leading reinsurers that anticipates and manages risk from natural catastrophes to climate change, aging popu- lations to cyber-crime – analy- ses the exposure each country has to biodiversity and ecosys- tems services decline. The latest findings from the pioneering Swiss Re BES Index name Malta as having one of the most fragile ecosystems in the world, alongside Israel, Cyprus, Bahrain and Kazakhstan. It revealed that 55 per cent of global GDP is dependent on biodiversity and ecosystem ser- vices (BES) – yet a fifth of the world's countries have ecosys- tems at risk of collapse on more than a third of their total land. Malta was highlighted as hav- ing the most expansive ecosys- tem fragility across 100 per cent of the islands, although it also ranked in the top ten countries with the lowest GDP depend- ency on BES, making it less susceptible to economic shocks from declining ecosystems. No- one however can escape the need for fertile agricultural land for food security and pollina- tors. "The BES Index provides a ho- listic, comparative view of the state of BES globally by looking at ten different BES categories addressing water security, tim- ber provision, food provision, habitat intactness, pollination, soil fertility, water quality, reg- ulation of air quality and local climate, erosion control and coastal protection," Vanya Ve- ras said. Veras is a Malta-based expert in environmental affairs, waste management, and green infra- structure and founder of Vivac- ity Ltd, a company that estab- lishes biodiverse ecosystems on roofs and walls. "Biodiversity is the balance of all life on earth; the symbi- otic relationship between each habitat and species. Industrial- isation and the consumer econ- omies have destroyed more than 60 per cent of the world's biodiversity in the last 50 years, with less than 25 per cent today a wild, biodiverse ecosystem. Couple that with the fact we still destroy over 10 billion trees every year, and this enormous imbalance becomes the greatest risk we face." By spotlighting these con- cerning findings as well as the economic sectors in each coun- try that are most reliant on na- ture, the Swiss Re BES Index is also designed to inform deci- sion-making for governmental efforts to help restore and pre- serve their country's dwindling ecosystems. Likewise, the global community is still able to help minimise further negative im- pact, by boosting local biodi- versity and making sustainable choices. "By becoming sustainable con- sumers, increasing our self-suf- ficiency, reducing our energy demands and by bringing biodi- versity into cities and back into food production, we can fix the serious environmental prob- lems that collectively, we have all created," Veras said. "It is vital to rewild urban areas to turn them into urban forests, creating local biodiverse eco- systems using Mediterranean indigenous and endemic plants on every available built surface, as is our mission at Vivacity. Green roofs, green walls and urban gardens, when planted in accordance with the local flora and fauna, have the capacity to bring back the biodiversity up- on which we all depend." More information regarding green roofs and walls in Malta may be found online at www.vi- va-city.com. The island is one of the top five worst countries for declining biodiversity, according to a study by Swiss Re Institute Green Roof Photos by Vivacity Widnet il-Bahra, a flower endemic to Malta