The loss of biodiversity is widespread, and it is worrying; there are all sorts of alarming numbers about. These numbers roll off our attention span, amidst all the doomsday statistics. And there is a perception that biodiversity is all about the disappearance of exotic insects in some distant land. But these forms of life must be saved, for their own sake, and because humans are a part of biodiversity. Dangers to one form of life are a threat to another. In this International Year of Biodiversity, IPS taps into its own diverse network of correspondents around the world to report these ever new dangers to forms of life - and the struggle to protect them.