FORMULATING A FUTURE FOR DIVERSITY

A significant reduction in the diversity of life on earth is already a ssured as a result of the loss and degradation of terrestrial and aqua tic habitats over past centuries. With continued human population grow th, biodiversity will come under even more pressure in coming decades. Yet significant opportunities do exist to lessen the rate of extincti on and thereby increase the amount of biodiversity that is passed on t o future generations. Strategies for biodiversity conservation must re organize ethical, ecological, and economic values of biodiversity if t hey are to have the greatest possible impact. All of these values are important in determining the costs of biodiversity loss and the benefi ts of conservation. In recent years a coalescence of scientific inform ation, heightened economic value, and grassroots activism has stimulat ed an unparalleled global response to the loss of biodiversity. Linked efforts to save study and use the earth's biodiversity sustainably an d equitably stand the greatest chance of substantially reducing the ra te of diversity's loss.