Transcript

Why is biodiversity conservation so important to people and the planet?

There has never been a more pressing time than now to prioritize the intrinsic value of biological diversity – the genes, species and ecosystems that make up life on Earth.

Creating and maintaining the conditions under which people and other life forms can live sustainably is the greatest challenge facing society today.

People depend on the natural world for sanity – in moments of crisis, the natural world is where they find solace. But it’s also what feeds us and gives us the air that we breathe.

The world’s biodiversity urgently needs research-driven, innovative and practical solutions for its conservation.

Why must we act now?

Environmental awareness has never been greater, conservation science is at its most advanced and the policies, practices and organisations created to conserve the natural world have never been more numerous, yet biodiversity loss is more rapid and widespread than at any other time in human history.

Addressing this unprecedented loss requires innovative approaches to nature conservation that must transform how the world manages and sustains the natural resources upon which humanity depends.

This is why the work of the Cambridge Conservation Initiative is so exceptional. The Initiative exists to devise these transformational approaches.

It is an extraordinary marriage between outstanding practical conservationists and inspiring intellectual thinkers which will shape the future of life on Earth.