Biodiversity: why it’s so important to keep talking about it

According to the latest Living Planet Report , published by the WWF together with the Zoological Society of London, an international, science-driven conservation organisation dedicated to protecting wildlife and habitats all over the world, biodiversity has fallen significantly over recent years, despite the many initiatives aimed at conservation. For this reason, the United Nations Biodiversity Conference has been held every two years since 1992, with the goal of preserving our planet’s wealth of living species.

The 2024 conference was held in Colombia, while Armenia will be its host in 2026. These biodiversity conferences are similar to those focusing on climate — in fact, both are also referred to using the acronym "COP". During these events, the individual countries negotiate shared targets and determine action plans to protect biological diversity: in 2022, for example, they agreed to protect 30% of global land and sea areas by 2030.

Preserving biodiversity, however, is important not only for natural environments and the species that inhabit them, but also for human beings themselves. For example, huge numbers of living organisms help to keep the soil fertile, to break down waste, to purify waterways, and to supply food resources. It’s no wonder, then, that biodiversity loss in less wealthy countries is generally associated with an increase in poverty, particularly in the long term. Moreover, biodiversity has a contribution to make to scientific progress, with discoveries that can prove useful in the pharmaceutical sphere, among other things.

Biodiversity is a topic that comes up fairly frequently in conversation; in fact, the term has even made its way into the Italian Constitution in recent years. However, it’s not easy to explain briefly why it's so important and beneficial to humanity. The term is a portmanteau derived from "biological diversity” and refers to three distinct forms of diversity present in natural environments.

The first of these is genetic diversity between individuals of the same species, or in other words, the breadth of characteristics within a species’ genetic make-up. The second is species diversity, referring to the number of different species populating an ecosystem. This includes not only animals and plants, but also fungi, bacteria, etc., in acknowledgement of the fact that all species living in a given environment are interdependent upon each other. Finally, ecosystem diversity considers the variety of ecosystems within a single region.

Taken together, the three forms of biodiversity make life in a given natural environment more resilient, particularly in the case of profound changes, such as those caused by the climate. For instance, the greater the genetic biodiversity of a species, the more adaptable it is and the less vulnerable to extinction. The three leading causes of biodiversity loss are reductions in natural habitats, climate change, and the introduction of non-native species, which can disturb the equilibrium of co-existence in ecosystems.

Terna, the Italian TSO, considers biodiversity — and the environment in general — to be a stakeholder to be protected. This commitment takes shape with a variety of initiatives aimed at mapping the impacts and potential risks of its electrical infrastructure on the ecosystems where they are located or pass through, identifying the solutions that best mitigate their effects. The impact on biodiversity varies between the construction stage (during which it is mainly caused by construction site activities) and the operational stage. Terna manages impacts and risks starting from the planning of infrastructure, considering the safeguarding of biodiversity (for instance, in protected areas) as an input for sustainable grid development. In this sense, the local biodiversity is studied in detail and given ample consideration when determining the definitive route. Moreover, environmental mitigation measures are also adopted during construction and operation, as well as environmental compensation measures.

Terna’s focus on protecting biodiversity and the environment has, for some time, found its expression in a variety of practical initiatives. These include the Nests on Pylons project, which began in the early 2000s and, thanks also to the support of various environmentalist associations, has led to the installation of around 500 boxes suitable for nest-building in Italy. These structures have been used by many different species, including kestrels, peregrine falcons, scops owls, European rollers, storks, and bats. Then there’s the Biodotti project, launched in 2022, which has seen Terna pave the way for re-naturing interventions at the foot of several pylons in Lombardy, Tuscany, and Sicily, to increase the local ecological value. To achieve this, Terna’s power lines act as “stepping stones” to allow fauna to move between natural areas, thereby helping to boost biodiversity in the zone in question. Also launched by Terna in 2022 was the Tiny Forest project: just as the name suggests, five little forests have been planted on the lands of five social cooperatives — two in Lazio, and one each in Campania, Lombardy, and Veneto. These mini-forests adopt the method of Japanese botanist Miyawaki, involving the high-density planting of native species selected based on local ecological conditions, to encourage stable ecosystems to develop even in small areas.

In terms of protecting the seas, Terna uses low-impact techniques for the installation of submarine cables, avoiding the need for deep-sea excavations and instead relying on the transplanting of Posidonia Oceanica seagrass — just as it did in Tuscany’s Gulf of Follonica, where around 53,000 of these plants were relocated in 2022. Finally, the Odisseo
project, which began in 2023, uses underwater drones to gather data useful for the design and monitoring of submarine electrical connections, thus reducing their impact on ecosystems. Other initiatives include caring for monumental trees in collaboration with various Italian municipalities; raising awareness among employees and non-employees; and agreements with environmentalist associations with which Terna works on the sustainable planning of infrastructure and the definition of good practices to mitigate environmental impacts.