CFE MIDTERM

• Biodiversity is critically important to health, economy, and well-being
• Biodiversity - the diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems - is declining globally, faster than at any other time in human history
• The world's 7.6 billion people represent just 0.01% of all living things by weight, but humanity has caused the loss of 83% of all wild mammals and half of all plants
• Biodiversity


  The variety of life found in a place on Earth or, often, the total variety of life on Earth
• Biodiversity is key to our survival
• Protecting biodiversity is not only good for natural ecosystem, but also for the community that inhabits them
• Why biodiversity matters


  • Ensures health and food security
  • Helps fight disease
  • Plants are essential for medicines
  • Biodiversity benefits business
  • Biodiversity provides livelihoods
  • Biodiversity protects us
• 25% of drugs used in modern medicine are derived from rainforest plants while 70% of cancer drugs are natural or synthetic products inspired by nature
• According to the World Economic Forum's recent Nature Risk Rising Report, more than half of the world's GDP ($44 trillion) is highly or moderately dependent on nature
• Global sales of pharmaceuticals based on materials of natural origin are worth an estimated $75 billion a year
• Humans derive approximately $125 trillion of value from natural ecosystems each year
• Globally, three out of four jobs are dependent on water while the agricultural sector employs over 60% of the world's working poor
• Biodiverse ecosystems provide nature-based solutions that buffer us from natural disasters such as floods and storms, filter our water and regenerate our soils
• The Philippines is extremely valuable to global biodiversity because of its 52,177 described flora and fauna species, around half of which is endemic or found only in the Philippines
• Reasons for the preservation of all forms of life

  • Biodiversity has utility value
  • Biodiversity has "hidden wealth"
  • Biodiversity provides awareness of life exuberance
• All creatures, not merely human beings, are witnesses to the glory of God
• It is only as all creatures of God join together in the chorus of praise that the elements of the natural order or human beings witness to God as they ought
• The whole of creation has a Trinitarian imprint and reflection
• Each human person reaches its fulfillment by entering into communion with God, other people and creation
• We ought then to develop a spirituality of global solidarity that flows from the Trinity
• Each organism plays a fundamental role in nature
• All living things must be considered as invaluable in the maintenance of homeostasis in the ecosystem
• Everything is connected to everything else
• Deforestation in the mountains may affect the lowlands through floods, drought, and erosion
• The Chernobyl accident in 1986 affected a lot of countries through transfer of radioactive substances by natural agents such as wind and water, as well as human activities like export of contaminated food
• A deep ecological conversion entails acknowledging the world as a gift from the Father, feeling as part of a universal communion and developing our creativity and enthusiasm
• We are duty-bound to recognize and respect the order inscribed by God in the world
• The Season of Creation is a time to renew our relationship with our Creator and all creation through celebration, conversion, and commitment together
• Pope Francis made the Roman Catholic Church's warm welcoming of the Season of Creation official in 2015
• Laudato Si' Week 2021, to be held May 16-25, will be the crowning event of the Special Laudato Si' Anniversary Year, and a celebration of the great progress the whole Church has made on its journey to ecological conversion
• The theme for Laudato Si' Week 2021 is, "for we know that things can change"
• Topics related to Ecological Conversion and Ecological Spirituality in Laudato Si'


  • Joy and Peace
  • Civic and Political Love
  • Sacramental Signs and the Celebration of Rest
• Christian spirituality enjoins us to learn or relearn a prophetic and contemplative lifestyle
• Care for nature is essentially linked to the capacity to live with others
• We can find God in the beauty of nature like Saint John of the Cross and other mystics
• The Eucharist is the sublimation of the created world and the vital center of the universe
• The Sunday rest is a different way of being active and moves us to care for nature and the poor