The world’s ecosystems provide environmental services we simply cannot live without. As an integral part of nature, our fate is tightly linked with biological diversity, i.e. the huge variety of animals, plants and microorganisms that live in mountains, forests, oceans, wetlands and other ecosystems. We rely on this diversity of life to provide us with essentials such as water, food, fuel and medicine. Yet each day an estimated 150 species disappear, many due to human activities.