Insurance for a sustainable future
Discover how protecting biodiversity helps ensure thriving ecosystems that underpin the well-being of millions of people.Find out more
At MSIG, we seek to contribute to the development of a vibrant society and help secure a sound future for the planet, by enabling safety and peace of mind. As an insurance company that sees the heart in everything, we recognise protecting biodiversity is fundamental to thriving ecosystems because they provide us with vital resources like food, water, and medicines. These are key to ensuring sustainable societies, and our existence.
At MSIG, we partnered Conservation International Asia-Pacific (CIAP) to protect biodiversity by supporting the conservation of forests and oceans. The investment supported natural climate solutions. Nature provides 30% of the solution to mitigating climate change by helping to remove or avoid carbon emissions.Learn more
Protecting large scale ecosystems is the insurance that this planet needs to reduce our risk of catastrophic loss. An ecosystem is a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather and landscapes, interact. The whole surface of Earth is a series of interconnected ecosystems. The more diverse the ecosystem, the more productive it is.
Click on each ecosystem to discover more.
Forests are among the most biodiverse ecosystems on Earth. Tropical rainforests are home to more species than any other terrestrial habitat and they are all interconnected with one another - whether for food, growth, survival, and more.
Forests provide homes for animals.
Some of these animals eat plants.
The plants need healthy soil to grow.
Fungi help decompose organic matter to fertilise the soil.
Here we see how the forest, Sunda pangolin, and termites are interconnected, as well as how forests affect humankind.
The marine ecosystem is the largest on Earth. It comprises an astounding variety of plant and animal species such as seagrass, corals, fish, rays, turtles, dugongs, as well as microalgae, plankton, and many more. Their individual existence is interdependent on one another.
For example, a change in ocean temperatures will affect the plant species that can grow there. Animals dependent on these plants for food and shelter will need to adapt to these changes, move to another ecosystem, or perish. Likewise, these changes will have significant consequences for us too.
In this example, we see how the shark plays an important role in ensuring the health of the ocean.
Mangroves are considered a natural climate solution with the potential to mitigate climate change - they are three times more effective at storing carbon than terrestrial forests, depositing it in plants and sediment, where it is known as “blue carbon”. They can also hold four times the amount of carbon than the average forest, despite covering only 0.1% of Earth's land surface.
In addition, mangrove ecosystems are among the most productive and biologically diverse ecosystems on the planet. They serve as important habitats for marine life like snappers, sharks, manatees, crabs, and more, which depend on one another for survival.
This example demonstrates how mangroves provide food for reef fishes.
Watch and read to learn more about biodiversity through these in-depth videos and articles.
Life on Earth consists of millions of species of plants, animals, insects and micro-organisms, spread across different habitats—from rivers and rainforests to deserts and oceans. This vast variety of life is called biodiversity. ‘Bio’ means life, and ‘diversity’ means variety.
Our world is like a web made up of many strands, each representing the different living species within an ecosystem, all connected together. Forests are homes to animals. Animals consume plants. Bees and other insects help in plant pollination. Plants need healthy soil to grow. Soil is fertilised by fungi that decompose biological matter. Each species, no matter how small, has a role to play in the natural ecosystem and maintaining a planet with a population of more than 7 billion people. When one connection is broken, the whole web becomes more unstable and less resilient.
Biodiversity is fundamental to thriving communities and vital to the well-being of our planet. It is at the heart of Earth’s life-support systems, which we all depend on. Mother Nature’s natural ecosystems and rich biodiversity are crucial in providing us with many wonderful and invaluable things that we take for granted:
A stable supply of food
A source of oxygen
A stable climate
Less natural disasters
Over the past 40 years, populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians have, on average, declined in size by 60 per cent in just over 40 years*, and is expected to drop even further.
Unfortunately, the main reason for this tragic loss of biodiversity is us—the human race. We have cut down forests, released greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and filled our rivers and oceans with plastic and harmful chemicals.
Irresponsible consumption of resources and unsustainable developments have also destroyed the natural habitats of countless species and consequently accelerated the rate of global warming and worsened the impact of natural disasters. However, while humans may be the cause, we can also definitely be part of the solution.
*Source: Wildlife population has fallen by 60% in just over 40 years. (WWF Living Planet Report, 2018)
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"""Kujaribu kuokoa maisha ya binadamu ni muhimu sana kwa jamii yetu, na tunataka kusaidia kuimarisha mazingira ya mazingira kwa kuwezesha usalama na amani ya akili." Kama kampuni ya bima ambayo inaona moyo katika kila kitu, tunatambua kulinda utofauti wa kibiolojia ni muhimu kwa mazingira ya kusitawi kwa sababu hutupa rasilimali muhimu kama chakula, maji na dawa. Hizi ni muhimu kuhakikisha jamii endelevu, na kuwepo kwetu. Mfumo wa Uhifadhi wa Kimataifa (CIP) wa Asia-Pacific (CIAP) umefanya kazi kwa pamoja na Shirika la Kimataifa la Uhifadhi (CIP) kuimarisha uhifadhi wa misitu na bahari. Uwekezaji huo uliunga mkono suluhisho la asili la hali ya hewa. Asili hutoa 30% ya suluhisho la kupunguza mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa kwa kusaidia kuondoa au kuepuka uzalishaji wa kaboni.Kulinda mifumo mikubwa ya ikolojia ni bima ambayo sayari hii inahitaji kupunguza hatari yetu ya hasara ya maafa. Ecosystem ni eneo la kijiografia ambapo mimea, wanyama, na viumbe wengine, pamoja na hali ya hewa na mandhari, kuingiliana. Uso wote wa Dunia ni mfululizo wa mifumo ya ikolojia iliyounganishwa. Kadiri mfumo wa ikolojia ulivyo na utofauti, ndivyo unavyozidi kuzaa. Bonyeza kila mfumo wa ikolojia ili ugundue zaidi. Misitu ni mojawapo ya mifumo ya ikolojia yenye viumbe mbalimbali zaidi duniani. Misitu ya mvua ya kitropiki ni makao ya spishi nyingi kuliko makazi mengine ya nchi kavu na zote zimeunganishwa kwa kila mmoja - iwe kwa chakula, ukuaji, kuishi, na zaidi. Misitu huandaa makao kwa ajili ya wanyama. Baadhi ya wanyama hao hula mimea. Mimea huhitaji udongo wenye afya ili ikue. Uyoga husaidia kuharibu vitu vya kikaboni ili kuzaana udongo. Hapa tunaona jinsi msitu, pangolin ya Sunda, na mchwa vinavyohusiana, na vilevile jinsi misitu inavyoathiri wanadamu. Mfumo wa ikolojia wa baharini ndio mkubwa zaidi duniani. Kuna aina nyingi za mimea na wanyama kama vile nyasi za baharini, matumbawe, samaki, miale, kasa, dugong, na pia microalgae, plankton, na mengine mengi. Uwepo wao wa kibinafsi unategemea kila mmoja. Kwa mfano, mabadiliko ya halijoto ya bahari yataathiri spishi za mimea inayoweza kukua huko. Wanyama wanaotegemea mimea hiyo kwa ajili ya chakula na makao watahitaji kukabiliana na mabadiliko hayo, kuhamia mazingira mengine, au kuangamia. Vivyo hivyo, mabadiliko hayo yatakuwa na matokeo makubwa kwetu pia. Katika mfano huu, tunaona jinsi papa anavyofanya kazi muhimu katika kuhakikisha afya ya bahari. Mangroves ni muhimu kwa hali ya hewa na inaweza kupunguza mabadiliko ya hali ya hewa, kwa sababu ni mara tatu zaidi ya ufanisi katika kuhifadhi kaboni kuliko misitu ya ardhi, kuhifadhi katika mimea na sediments, ambapo inajulikana kama kaboni ya bluu. Pia, misitu hiyo inaweza kuhifadhi kaboni mara nne zaidi ya misitu ya kawaida, ingawa inashughulikia asilimia 0.1 tu ya ardhi duniani. Kwa kuongezea, mifumo ya ikolojia ya misitu ya mangrove ni mojawapo ya mifumo ya ikolojia yenye uzalishaji na utofauti mkubwa wa kibiolojia duniani. Ni mahali pa kuishi kwa wanyama wa baharini kama vile snapper, shark, manatee, crab na wengine ambao hutegemea kila mmoja wao ili waishi. Mfano huu unaonyesha jinsi misitu ya mangrove inavyoandaa chakula kwa samaki wa matumbawe. Tazama na usome ili kujifunza zaidi juu ya utofauti wa kibiolojia kupitia video na makala hizi za kina. Maisha duniani yana mamilioni ya spishi za mimea, wanyama, wadudu na viumbe wadogo, zilizoenea katika mazingira tofauti-tofauti - kutoka mito na misitu ya mvua hadi jangwa na bahari. Aina hii kubwa ya uhai huitwa utofauti wa viumbe hai. "Bio" inamaanisha maisha, na "tofauti" inamaanisha aina mbalimbali. Ulimwengu wetu ni kama mtandao uliofanyizwa na nyuzi nyingi, kila moja ikimaanisha spishi tofauti za uhai ndani ya mfumo wa ikolojia, zote zikiwa zimeunganishwa pamoja. Misitu ni makao ya wanyama. Wanyama hula mimea. Nyuki na wadudu wengine husaidia kupandikiza mimea. Mimea huhitaji udongo wenye afya ili ikue. Udongo hutengenezwa kwa kuvu ambazo huvunja vitu vya kibiolojia. Kila spishi, hata iwe ndogo, ina jukumu la kucheza katika mazingira ya asili na kudumisha sayari yenye idadi ya watu zaidi ya bilioni 7. Uunganisho mmoja unapovunjika, mtandao wote unakuwa usio na uthabiti na hauna nguvu ya kuvumilia. Biodiversity ni ya msingi kwa jamii zinazoendelea na muhimu kwa ustawi wa sayari yetu. Ni kiini cha mifumo ya kutegemeza uhai wa Dunia, ambayo sisi sote hutegemea. "Mifumo ya ikolojia ya asili ya Mama Asili na utajiri wa viumbe hai ni muhimu katika kutupa vitu vingi vya ajabu na vya thamani ambavyo tunachukua kwa kawaida: ""Utoaji thabiti wa chakula, chanzo cha oksijeni, hali ya hewa thabiti, na misiba ya asili ya chini"" Katika miaka 40 iliyopita, idadi ya mamalia, ndege, samaki, wanyama wa mwituni na amfibia imepungua kwa wastani wa asilimia 60 katika miaka 40 tu." Kwa bahati mbaya, sababu kuu ya hasara hii ya kusikitisha ya bioanuwai ni sisi <unk> jamii ya binadamu. Tumevunja misitu, tumetoa gesi za chafu angani, na kujaza mito na bahari zetu na plastiki na kemikali zenye kudhuru. Matumizi yasiyo ya uadilifu ya rasilimali na maendeleo yasiyo ya kudumu pia yameharibu mazingira ya asili ya spishi nyingi na kwa hivyo kuharakisha kiwango cha ongezeko la joto duniani na kuharibu athari za majanga ya asili. Hata hivyo, ingawa wanadamu huenda wakawa kisababishi, kwa hakika tunaweza pia kuwa sehemu ya suluhisho. * Idadi ya wanyama wa porini imepungua kwa asilimia 60 katika miaka 40 tu. "Kulingana na ripoti ya WWF ya ""Living Planet Report"" ya 2018, kiwango cha kaboni cha dunia ni karibu asilimia 50 ya kiwango cha kaboni cha dunia." Utoaji wa kaboni kutoka kwa chaguzi zako za mtindo wa maisha, kama vile usafiri unaochukua au chakula unachokula, huathiri hali ya hewa. Tafuta alama yako ya kaboni na kihesabu cha Conservation International na ujifunze jinsi ya kuipunguza leo.