Biodiversity: Combating the sixth mass extinction

Abstract

At the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, world leaders made a collective commitment to preserve Earth's biological resources by agreeing to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). Since then, however, most politicians have failed to protect nature and the world has witnessed-with but a few positive examples-a dramatic and continual loss of biodiversity. Not only have exceptional mammals such as the Western Black Rhino, the Caspian Tiger, and the Pyrenean Ibex Goat gone extinct, but an alarming number of animals, insects, and plants are now on the edge of extinction. It may not be long before the classic poster species such as the panda bear, the tiger, and the Baiji river dolphin disappear in the wild-kept alive only in public zoos by expensive breeding programs.