New children's book "Bio-Diversi-Was?" is all about biodiversity

"The earth is colorful and alive" is the motto when biodiversity is explained in an easily understandable way using many examples from the animal and plant world. Species-specific characteristics are not only presented in a fun and informative interview style, from the blue-winged ant to the field hamster to the sugar kelp, but also illustrated with lots of pictures.

However, because biodiversity is declining sharply in many places, many creatures are facing existential problems

For example, a female field hamster says that she has to stock up on at least two kilos of grains during the warm season to survive the winter - unfortunately this is becoming increasingly rare,

"because there is no space, everything is covered in concrete. And everywhere poisons against insects, poisons against plants. Brrr."

A blue whale also talks about its everyday life

For example, that it has to eat around 50 million shrimps every day in order to survive - but only in summer, as it doesn't eat anything in winter. What the 33-metre-long, 200-tonne and 110-year-old blue whale fears most is a collision with a container ship - because it would not survive. Trawling nets, which tear wide swathes through its habitat in the deep sea and release a lot of climate-damaging CO2 in the process, also pose a threat.

On 208 pages, there are also plenty of opportunities for young readers to get involved

Drawing the meadow habitat yourself is suggested, as is an experiment in which you mix the salt content of the sea in a liter of water yourself. At the end of each chapter, there are craft instructions, research sheets and puzzles that not only make children smart, but also encourage them to act independently in order to increase biodiversity on our planet and thus actively promote the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature.

Bio-Diversi-Was? is aimed at children aged 8 and over and will be published by Leykam-Verlag on September 4. Further information can be found at: www.leykamverlag.at/produkt/bio-diversi-was