THE WEB OF LIFE IS BEING TORN APART

If the world has been reminded of anything through the tragedy of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, it is that biodiversity and the health of ecosystems is not an abstract concept of scientists or the pet project of the 'green' elite. Biodiversity and healthy ecosystems are the vital underpinnings of human society. Food and energy production on land and from the sea, medicine, tourism, real estate, these industries and many others have been shown to be starkly vulnerable to the destruction of marine and terrestrial ecosystems. And yet, while the link between biodiversity and human well-being is better understood now than ever before, the news from the front lines of the global effort to preserve the world's biodiversity is bleak. The web of life that we all rely on for our very survival is being torn apart at an increasingly alarming rate and action to address this global crisis is still distressingly lacking and slow.