Extinction .in

The biodiversity crisis. 

The loss of species and habitats is thought to pose as much danger to life on Earth as global warming does. The UN warns that a million plant and animal species are at risk of extinction in the coming decades unless rapid action is taken now.

Extinction is part of the evolutionary process - some species die away as others evolve. The problem is species are currently becoming extinct far more rapidly than is usual in evolutionary history. Scientists estimate species extinction is happening between 1,000 and 10,000 times faster than the normal "background rate". They warn the world is experiencing an extinction event comparable in scale with the disaster that saw the dinosaurs wiped out.

This matters because biodiversity underpins so much of the functioning of the natural world - from the food we eat to the air we breathe and the water we drink. It also helps protect us from pollution, floods and climate breakdown.

But UN negotiations to stem the tide of extinction in Geneva earlier this year ended in deadlock. This week delegates meet in Nairobi to try to reboot the talks. The aim is to agree 21 targets, including protecting at least 30% of the world's land and seas by 2030.

The hope is to provide a framework for a landmark international agreement under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity that will be signed by governments in Kunming in October. The ultimate goal could hardly be more lofty - for humanity to "live in harmony with nature" by 2050.

"We would love to see endangered populations grow but in order to do so, there's really going to need to be more habitat available to them," says Ms Stoinski.

The answer would be more land set aside for threatened and endangered species' populations - exactly what the UN says needs to happen worldwide. But taking productive land out of action costs money and the developing world says they need financial support to do it. This is one of the main sticking points in negotiations. Developing countries are demanding the developed world pay them $100bn a year to support conservation.

The success of mountain gorilla conservation shows we can save species from the brink of extinction, says the UN's head of biodiversity, Elizabeth Mrema. She is confident the delegates in Nairobi will be able to find compromises when they meet this week.

The question for the world is how much energy and resources we are willing to put into the effort to protect biodiversity. Ms Mrema issues a stark warning: "We've been told by scientists we only have this century to solve the biodiversity crisis. There is no planet B," she says.