Concluding a four-year global consultation, international experts have agreed on key efforts needed to reduce the on-going loss of biodiversity and associated ecosystem services. On Day 2 of the Planet under Pressure conference in London (planetunderpressure2012.net) March 27, leaders of the global biodiversity research programme DIVERSITAS described the urgent need to better understand the “5 Ws” — who, what, where, when and why — of biodiversity loss, and how humanity might mitigate it. Human well-being depends on ecosystems like forests and coral reefs continuing to provide “ecosystem services” – including food, pollution treatment and climate regulation, scientists say. Many ecosystems “are underpinned by biodiversity,” the losses of which “severely undermine the delivery of these ecosystem services.” Read More
