“If we pollute the air, water and soil that keep us alive and well, and destroy the biodiversity that allows natural systems to function, no amount of money will save us.”

-David Suzuki

Biodiversity and Water

What’s the best way to ensure clean, pure water in our rivers, streams and underground aquifers? Protect natural ecosystems, especially forests and wetlands that absorb and filter rainwater.

Biodiversity, or the variety of organisms in an ecosystem, is critical to the function of that system. Living things provide valuable ecosystem services in the upper Raritan River region and beyond.

Major threats to biodiversity include habitat loss or degradation, loss of connectivity, invasive species, climate change, development, roads, poor logging practices, illegal collection of amphibians and reptiles, gaps in regulatory protection, lack of monitoring data.

Because much of what we do on the land ends up in the water, freshwater ecosystems and the species they contain are some of the most imperiled in the world.

Raritan Headwaters has launched three, new long-term initiatives to monitor aquatic biodiversity and make sure the plants and animals in our streams and wetlands are protected.