A new way of looking at marine evolution over the past 540 million years has shown that levels of biodiversity in our oceans have remained fairly constant, rather than increasing continuously over the last 200 million years, as scientists previously thought.

Do biodiversity losses aggravate transmission of infectious diseases spread by animals to humans? The jury is still out but several scientists say there is a "biodiversity dilution effect" in which declining biodiversity results in increased infectious-disease transmission.

THE Oxford Dictionary describes the environment as "the surroundings or conditions in which a person, animal, or plant lives or operates". Humankind has been reliant on the environment for its existence for as long as humans have been living on earth. In numerous ways, the future survival of humankind will depend on how we take care of our air, soil, rivers, oceans, animals and plants.

Jiuzhaigou National Nature Reserve is one of China's most popular tourist attractions, drawing more than five million visitors per year to the sparsely populated mountains of north-western Sichuan. The reserve has been home to farmer-herders for thousands of years, but to conserve the biodiversity and scenic quality of the reserve, park policies prohibit residents from farming, herding and wood cutting.

Ordinary citizens felt like they had been sold a bill of goods. They were right to feel conned.

Outcomes of the Meeting of the Friends of the Co-Chairs on liability and redress, Bonn, 7-10 May 2008

New Publication: Rules, Procedures and Mechanisms Applicable to Processes under the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.

Report of the Fourth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity Serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (Advance text)