BIODIVERSITY

    The enormous environmental degradation that we have been seeing all over the world makes us thinking about the future of the species, of ecosystems, of human being, and for finishing, of life in a whole.
    Into this perspective, studies and biodiversity’s preservation are fundamental, because there is a direct relation for the species’ preservation or conservation, and also understanding life in a whole we will be well-prepared for preserving or conserving it for future use.
    The New York’s Natural History Museum shows at the recent Biodiversity Hall the result of years of studies and investment of million dollars, which brings the last information and scientific conclusions about the subject, trying so to answer these questions.
    In view of our environmental studies, we had the opportunity of recently visiting it (November/98) and we could verify all of its splendor, because it shows the mainly globe’s ecosystems with its fauna’s represents in very rich panels, containing scientific information of really high technical level, and also of easy access for public in general, where the Earth life’s threatening the natural resources excessive exploration are also shown. Computers show the visitors more details about the things that are exposed. The window called “Life’s Spectrum” shows a big variety of animal species – 1.500, representing groups since microbes up to mammals in nine mainly ecosystems in the world, showing this way the exuberance of the presentation.
    There is also the impressive diorama representing the tropical forest of Dzanga-Sangha, a reserve Africa’s Central Republic, and as said in the informative booklet, is the biggest diorama in the world. Its area is 2500 feet, using a high technology of images and sound, reproducing the animals’ behavior moving them, and the illumination effects show the different day’s times in the forest. All the vegetation was detailed reproduced leaf by leaf, branch by branch, giving the impression of a real forest, besides, there is also the sensation of humidity, heat and smell.
    Computers give access to the BioBulletin with information about world events about biodiversity and explanation about the processes of species’ extinction. The panel “Resource Center” shows the disastrous human activities, as the forms, methods, rules and ways for trying to avoid biodiversity’s degradation.
    Therefore, humanity starts to know and notice the biodiversity’s importance for the life’s future and so starts a walk against time for saving it and in this way, expositions as the Biodiversity’s Hall of the American Museum of Natural History where the Earth’s diversity splendor is revealed and the way of preserving it must be spreaded and visited for we really think about our future and from the others life’s forms of our beautiful blue planet, which can be understood as “The last Noah’s Ark”.