Protecting and restoring the natural world
We strongly support the intrinsic value of nature as our basic reason for conserving endangered species and threatened ecosystems. It is our love for the wild species on this Earth, and the beauty of its natural habitats, that keeps us motivated every day to fight on behalf of nature. Conservation action is of course highly context-dependent, but we believe that the intrinsic value of nature should nevertheless underpin all the conservation initiatives that we support. However, we also recognise that ecosystem services and natural capital are not abstract or artificial concepts – part of the wonder of nature is the benefits that it brings to people. This is something that we celebrate. Here we take a look at the meaning and importance of biodiversity, why conservation is important and what is behind the ‘sixth mass extinction’.
Biodiversity loss continues to attract far less attention than the climate crisis, yet the need to act to protect and restore nature has never been more urgent.
The decline in species we are currently experiencing has been described as a sixth mass extinction. What are the drivers of this dramatic decline?