Biodiversity is essential to human well-being, but people have been reducing biodiversity throughout human history. Loss of species and degradation of ecosystems are likely to further accelerate in the coming years. Our understanding of this crisis is now clear, and world leaders have pledged to avert it. Nonetheless, global goals to reduce the rate of biodiversity loss have mostly not been achieved. However, many examples of conservation success show that losses can be halted and even reversed. Building on these lessons to turn the tide of biodiversity loss will require bold and innovative action to transform historical relationships between human populations and nature.
History
Publication title
Science
Volume
356
Issue
6335
Pagination
270-275
ISSN
0036-8075
Department/School
School of Natural Sciences
Publisher
Amer Assoc Advancement Science
Place of publication
1200 New York Ave, Nw, Washington, USA, Dc, 20005
Rights statement
Copyright 2017 American Association for the Advancement of Science