Educators' notes

The key to saving biodiversity is protecting ecosystems. Success in preventing further biodiversity loss requires actions to secure our living wealth.

The major action strands are:

	National parks, reserves and other protected areas National parks are the backbone of efforts to save biodiversity. They need to be strengthened to embrace the full range of ecosystems and their species.
	Conservation management outside parks and reserves As most land is privately managed, private land holders have a vital role to play.
	Threatened species and communities Targeted action is needed to bring threatened species and ecological communities back from the brink of extinction.
	National monitoring and State of Environment reporting systems Long-term monitoring is needed to measure change and its effects on the future survival of biodiversity.
	Education and information exchange Easy access to information about UK biodiversity will aid wise and informed decisions that ensure our natural environment is diverse, rich and sustainable, now and for future generations.

The Earth Summit and beyond

The international Rio Earth Summit of 1992 set a path for sustainable development in the 21st century. A key element was a treaty to conserve biodiversity. The United Kingdom, and over 150 other countries, signed the Convention on Biological Diversity (http://www.biodiv.org).

The United Kingdom has prepared blueprints to save, study and use biodiversity.

The UK strategy for biodiversity has seen the development of costed action plans (http://www.ukbap.org.uk) for key species and habitats for the years 2000 to 2010. Another key element to the strategy is to increase public awareness of, and involvement in, conserving UK biodiversity.

Supplementary info: Definitions of biodiversity

Home > What is biodiversity: Species-scape | Exploring UK biodiversity | Benefits of biodiversity | Threats to biodiversity | Saving biodiversity

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