The Song of Xirico: Climate Change and (Bio)diversity

Delso Khossa"

Song is a polysemic term that means production of rhythm, a place to indicate the location of the object and conjugation of the verb "sing" in the indicative mood of the present, in the first person singular. In other words, according to the online Portuguese Dictionary, (i) song is the succession of strong and weak beats that are presented alternately and regularly, cadence and beat: poetic rhythm; (ii) song is a reentrant or salient angle formed by the meeting of two surfaces, a secluded, little-frequented place or corner; (iii) song morphologically means the ending personal number indicative of the first person singular. The xirico bird is a yellow bird, scientifically known as the species Serinus mozambicus. It is typically Mozambican and produces a wonderful rhythm, Mozambican singing canary, a high, strident rhythm, a strong voice that soothes the mixtures of biodiversity. The term diversity is a rich word due to the quality, variety and multiplicity of the ecosystem, therefore, the xirico is a species of (bio)diversity. The world celebrates two crucial dates regarding diversity. The xirico demonstrates the importance of conserving and protecting cultural and environmental diversity. May 21st is World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development and May 22nd is Biodiversity Day. These are 48 hours of celebration and reflection on (bio)diversity in the context of climate change, conflict between humans and animals, wars, deforestation, fires, drought and migration/extinction of marine and forest species. Biodiversity is summarized in the balance of the ecosystem through ecosystem services, for example plant pollination, water purification and climate balance. Therefore, the nature of biodiversity speaks, cradles, communicates, comforts, socializes and projects the future of man. Communication is the path to peace and prosperity. Communicating with biodiversity evokes the culture of justice, equality, protection and comfort, while prosperity with biodiversity expands the sources of sustainable wealth. With the frequency of climate change occurring, there is a need to reflect on the modes and typicality of communication to ensure the balance of the ecosystem. The importance of biodiversity conservation and conservation is referenced in the Sustainable Development Goals in objective 13 entitled “climate action: take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (2024), it reveals that biological diversity resources are crucial for man, for example fish provide 20% of animal protein for 3 billion, while plants provide 80% of the human diet. Plants function as traditional medicines for health care in the universe of 80% of people in rural areas worldwide. The Living Planet Report (2024) reveals that between 1970-2020, the animal population reduced drastically by 73%, which corresponds to a figure of approximately 35 thousand trends including 5,495 species of amphibians, birds, fish, mammals and reptiles, while the river population suffered serious declines with a loss of 85%, followed by 69% of terrestrial species and 56% of marine species. Africa is extremely rich in biodiversity resources. For this reason, in 2010, the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 was approved to accelerate the protection of ecosystems, such as biomes ranging from mangroves to deserts, from Mediterranean forests to tropical forests, savannas and mountains, and from river resources to the sea. Despite the existence of these biogeographical characteristics, there are still challenges to be overcome, because population growth rates (urbanization and agricultural innovation) create immense obstacles to responding to ecosystem protection, jeopardizing economic and environmental sustainability. Conservation trends show that biodiversity in Africa is at risk, with certain species at risk of extinction. Species extinction is related to selfish human action, such as deforestation and forest degradation. In the Mozambican context, despite the existence of strategic sectors that correspond to climate action, unfortunately the situation is heading towards the collapse of the sustainable economy. The country's geographical location increases its vulnerability to climate change, affecting the population of the ecosystem. In Africa, the country is ranked 31st, while in the Global Biodiversity Index it is ranked 144.30. According to the website of the Ministry of Land and Environment, Mozambique has 14 ecoregions, with an estimated biodiversity of more than 6,000 floral species and 4,000 faunal species, of which 452 species are endangered and 129 ecosystems are threatened, 42 conservation areas, 19% of freshwater area covered by conservation area, 30 key conservation areas for biodiversity; and 10% of the national territory is covered by biodiversity area. According to the World Resource Institute's Global Forest Watch (2024), between 2018 and 2023, the country lost 541 million tCO2e of natural forests. In turn, the National Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change (PNACC) foresees increasing resilience to climate change and implementing adaptation activities such as agriculture, water resources and coastal ecosystems. The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), in its goal, foresees rehabilitating 15% of degraded ecosystems by 2030, restoring their biodiversity and ensuring their sustainability, in order to mitigate the effects of climate change and combat desertification. The annual volume of logging exceeds the felling established by legal instruments, which vary between 515 and 640,500 m³, making practices unsustainable (MITADER, 2018). After all, what are the common causes of biodiversity change? The most common causes are (i) habitat loss resulting from environmental modification, such as environmentally unfriendly agricultural practices, logging, transport, mining and energy production; (ii) overexploitation resulting from unsustainable hunting, such as the capture of some species; (iii) climate change, such as irregular high rainfall; (iv) pollution directly affecting the survival of the ecosystem; (v) diseases that a species has can easily spread, affecting others and human action itself, which is more dangerous to the environment; and (vi) species migration can generate conflicts with native species. The data presented in the various reports clearly demonstrate the trend towards the loss of certain species, which makes it clear that this is not just an issue of environmental conservation, but also has direct implications for human health, food security and GDP. The reduction in biodiversity further compromises the vulnerability of poor communities to climate change and the reduction of ecosystem services. In terms of human health, heat waves increase related diseases such as heatstroke and dehydration, and the spread of diseases such as malaria and respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. The issue of diet depends on climatic conditions, which means that irregular rainfall can affect agricultural production, such as droughts and floods, leading to higher food prices. Fishing, through ocean acidification and increased temperature and solid waste, can also have negative impacts on marine resources and fish. Society is at risk, human actions are worsening biodiversity. What are the possible solutions? The effects of climate change have no color, race, religion, ethnicity or borders. There is a need to redesign decentralized public policies committed to environmental and social justice, because if we continue to point fingers or delegate responsibilities we could become extinct. Technological innovation such as renewable energy can ensure the renewal of the ecosystem. Therefore, communication needs to be a key area to influence changes in behavior and attitudes, that is, risk communication is an essential strategy to monitor, evaluate and reduce information asymmetries, but also to expand knowledge of risk and new forms of community and business resilience. Therefore, the lack or inefficiency of a risk communication strategy can jeopardize all the efforts made by state institutions and the third sector.

2025/12/3