The Conversation

February 14, 2020
Species are being lost at about a thousand times the natural rate of extinction. This is faster than at any other period in human history. Ecosystems — the vital systems on which all life depends — are being degraded across the globe.

This crisis of biodiversity loss is finally getting some attention. But its connection to another loss – that of indigenous cultures – is rarely mentioned. From animals to insects and plants, biodiversity loss cannot be effectively addressed without tackling the rapid disappearance of indigenous cultures. The two are inextricably linked.

Read More

Forbes

February 14, 2020
Global insect extinctions have been the subject of growing public concern for the past few decades. But until recently, most people were unaware that many insect populations could actually be in trouble, nor did most people consider the consequences of insect extinctions for human welfare.

Read More

Cosmos

February 5, 2020
Polar and tropical regions that foster the planet’s richest biodiversity are the most vulnerable to future impacts of climate change, a study published in the journal Nature Climate Change has found.

Read More

Open Access Government

February 5, 2020
Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) found that bees prefer a low-fat diet, emphasizing that bumble bees need biodiversity to survive Bees are an important factor for our environment and our sustenance. Without insect pollination, many plant species – including various crops – cannot reproduce.

Read More

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B - Opinion

January 27, 2020
Nations of the world have, to date, pursued nature protection and climate change mitigation and adaptation policies separately. Both efforts have failed to achieve the scale of action needed to halt biodiversity loss or mitigate climate change. […] A new target of 30% of the sea given high levels of protection from exploitation and harm by 2030 is under consideration and similar targets are being discussed for terrestrial habitats. We make the case here that these higher targets, if achieved, would make the transition to a warmer world slower and less damaging for nature and people.

Read More

The Guardian - OpEd

September 19, 2019
The evidence is unequivocal: biodiversity, important in its own right and essential for current and future generations, is being destroyed by human activities at a rate unprecedented in human history.

Governments around the world recognised this at the Earth summit in Brazil in 1992 and established the Convention on Biological Diversity to protect and conserve biodiversity. But the situation has become more and more dire. I have chaired or co-chaired three international assessments on the state of knowledge of biodiversity, and all have repeated the same message – we are destroying it at an alarming rate. Each time we have called for action, only to be largely ignored.

Read More