By David Suzuki
In some circles, “diversity” is a dirty word. In reality, diversity is life. From individuals to ecosystems to Earth as a whole, diversity builds strength and resilience. Interrelated systems most adapted to changing conditions endure, and in species, traits most likely to ensure survival are passed down.
Diversity can strengthen an ecosystem, plant, animal or other life’s chances of thriving in the face of a range of threats. If a forest has a variety of life and tree types, it can survive impacts from disease, insects or weather targeted at one or a limited number of tree species.
Diversity among people is also critical. Beyond genetic diversity, which is essential for survival, a range of backgrounds, ideas, cultures and ways of seeing strengthens and enriches society, and offers various perspectives. This leads to far better solutions or programs than those dictated by individuals or small groups.
In the four billion years since life appeared on Earth, changes have been immense: the sun is 30 per cent warmer, tectonic plates have moved, collided and pulled apart, the ocean has filled and emptied, the atmosphere has changed from no oxygen to oxygen-rich (after plants evolved), mountains have thrust up and worn down, magnetic poles have reversed and re-reversed, hot climatic times have alternated with frigid periods. All the while, life has persisted with tenacity and flourished — although 99.99 per cent of species that have existed are now extinct.
Fossils reveal five mass extinctions when 70 to 95 per cent of species suddenly (in geological terms) disappeared. After each event, life recovered in abundance and diversity, but it took millions of years.
The most recent mass extinction occurred 65 million years ago when dinosaurs were wiped out, enabling small mammals — our ancestors — to become dominant. Dinosaurs may have vanished abruptly, but they flourished for 150 million years. Our species of human has been around for only 200,000.
The dinosaurs were powerless when a 12-kilometre-long asteroid travelling at 43,000 kilometres per hour smashed into Earth, sending a column of molten sand and dust so high some escaped gravity. The planet was plunged into a cold period that wiped out animals and plants.
Now, in the Anthropocene Epoch, humans have become the dominant geo-transforming force, with an impact far greater than that asteroid. We’ve induced and accelerated a sixth mass extinction that’s already eradicated millions of species and threatens another two million. A recent comprehensive study in Nature found that genetic diversity in animals, plants, fungi and chromists (a type of organism) has been declining globally, mainly because of human activities.
Much of the problem stems from the dominant but outdated colonialist mindset that views Earth and its “resources” as something for the taking, without respect for the integrity of natural systems on which our health and lives depend. Through living in place for millennia, Indigenous Peoples worldwide have learned how the ecosystems of which they are a part function. They know when to hold back, for instance, when fish stocks appear too low. The Western colonialist perspective prioritizes conquering, stripping resources, taking the money and moving on.
This is why diversity of cultures, people and ways of knowing is so critical. We can’t solve problems as dire as climate change and biodiversity loss with the same kind of thinking that got us into ecological crises. We need new perspectives, a nature- and human rights-centred approach to everything from trade to development to agriculture.
Diversity has strengthened countries, including Canada and the United States. As people from a variety of cultural and socio-economic backgrounds participate more in civic and political processes, a range of ideas emerges and more attention is paid to the rights and needs of those outside the dominant political class.
But fear threatens to stall or reverse progress. Many people are afraid of change, new ideas, people who are different from them. Billionaires and oligarchs take advantage of that to amass more wealth and power.
We can’t let fear win. As the dominant and most demanding omnivore ever on Earth, it defies logic to think mass biodiversity loss exacerbated by climate change doesn’t threaten us as a species. Maintaining diversity must be seen as a principle of survival built into all levels of life.
David Suzuki is a scientist, broadcaster, author and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation. Written with David Suzuki Foundation Senior Writer and Editor Ian Hanington.
Learn more at davidsuzuki.org.
REFERENCES:
Diversity is a dirty word:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/11/dei-trump-republicans-racism
Recent comprehensive study in Nature found:
Trade:
https://davidsuzuki.org/story/re-imagining-trade-for-people-and-the-planet
