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UN Biodiversity summit: What is biodiversity?

Hundreds of thousands of different species of animals and plants are facing extinction because of human activity, according to the United Nations.

A report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) found this biodiversity crisis is on a par with - and maybe exceeds - climate change.

But what is biodiversity and why is it important?

BBC Health, Science and Environment correspondent, Laura Foster explains why biodiversity is important for the planet and how it affects humans too.

5 May 2019

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People in high-vis jackets walk next to a car submerged in floods on the left of a split screen with a snowy road on the right

Atmospheric river dumps snow and record rain on California

Science & Environment

Phone footage of a skate surfacing out of grey waves to a rigid inflatable boat.ttack the side of a inflatable

Watch the moment a skate attacks a fisherman's boat off Shetland

NE, Orkney & Shetland

Smoke billows from house fire.

Video shows flames and thick smoke at house fire

A view from an EasyJet plane window as it flies above and to the side of an erupting volcano

Plane passengers film Iceland volcano lava from above

BBC News

East of England weather forecast

Composite image of Sir Keir Starmer and BBC Radio WM presenter Kath Stanczyszyn, who is pictured wearing headphones and speaking into a purple microphone

Will there be a Birmingham pub bombings inquiry?

Birmingham & Black Country

A huge Christmas tree on a flatbed lorry in font of the US Capitol building

US Capitol Christmas tree arrives in DC

Blurred still image from video clips shows people being taken out of a car

Migrants asked to rate trip in smuggler review videos

John Darvall sat on the left of a composite image, in a purple studio with a microphone in front of him. On the right is Keir Starmer with grey hair and brown glasses.

PM challenged on West's councils facing bankruptcy

BBC Newsline

BBC Newsline signed summary

BBC Scotland weather presenter Christopher Blanchett in front of a weather map of Scotland showing snow warnings.

Watch the Storm Bert weather forecast for Scotland

Mural of The Smiths bassist Andy Rourke unveiled

Parts of West Burton A power station being demolished

Power station demolition captured by drone

Man clinging to a cliff being rescued

Moment person clinging to cliff is rescued by helicopter

A woman in a hospital gown grins on the left and a monitor lit up with lungs is on the right of a split screen.

Woman gets first double lung transplant done by robot

Ryan Borgwardt

US kayaker who faked own death thought to have fled to Europe

Ruth Dodsworth in the BBC studios in Cardiff. She is sitting on an orange sofa. She has cropped blonde hair and is wearing a fitted mauve top,

Stalking was part of my daily life, says presenter

A Christmas tree with lots of blue and green lights. A building nearby has yellow lights and a red bow so it looks like a present. You can see people stood in front of the building.

Manx capital sparkles at Christmas lights switch-on

A woman has her make up done in a Swansea salon for Beaujolais Day

'Beaujolais day is Swansea's Christmas'

A woman polished a large Gromit statue at the launch of the Gromit Unleashed 3 trail in Bristol. The statue has a multicoloured sparkly pattern. The woman is wearing a red and white shirt and a black dress over the top and she has red hair cut in a bob style

Aardman unveils new Wallace and Gromit trail

A man walks in front of an uprooted tree, the roots of which tower over him

Fallen trees cause widespread damage after bomb cyclone

Two people died in the storm that hit the West coast of the US and Canada overnight.

Science & Environment

A yellow alert for high winds gusting up to 60 mph (97km/h) covers the whole of Scotland

Weather forecast ahead of Storm Ashley

A yellow alert for high winds gusting up to 60 mph (97km/h) covers the whole of Scotland.

Science & Environment

The Hunter's supermoon is seen shining brightly between two buildings, as the moon shines through London's skyline on 17 OCtober

Stargazers around the world catch supermoon

The brightness of the moon would allow ancient communities to increase hunting at this time of year - hence the name.

Science & Environment

SpaceX's Super Heavy booster fires out of its exhaust at the bottom of the rocket itself while it lands into the rocket launcher holder that it fired out of, during SpaceX Starship's fifth flight test, in Boca Chica, Texas, U.S., October 13, 2024

Watch: Why is the latest SpaceX rocket test a big deal?

The BBC's Pallab Ghosh explores why this world first test is a big deal for space exploration.

Science & Environment

SpaceX Starship booster caught in mid air

Watch astonishing moment Starship booster caught in mid-air 'chopsticks manoeuvre'

It’s the first time the "chopsticks manoeuvre" has been attempted, with previous boosters landing in the ocean.

Science & Environment

Split screen showing weather presenter giving remote update and Hurricane Milton satellite image

Meteorologist becomes emotional giving Hurricane Milton update

The weather system has rapidly intensified into a category five storm with winds of up to 175mph (281km/h).

Science & Environment

Suni Williams and Barry 'Butch' Wilmore grin as they float aboard the International Space Station

'Space is my happy place,' says stranded astronaut

Suni Williams and Barry 'Butch' Wilmore gave an update from the ISS on their extended stay in space.

Science & Environment

Sarah Gillis emerges from a capsule into dark space

Watch: Key moments from first non-professional spacewalk

Isaacman said the Earth looked like a "perfect world" as he stepped out into space for the first time.

Science & Environment

Bow of Titanic missing section of railing

Video shows Titanic missing large section of railing

The discovery was made during a series of dives by underwater robots this summer.

Science & Environment

A video grab shows the northern lights (Aurora Borealis) flickering over the earth's surface with the moon setting in the background, and parts of the Internation Space Station (ISS) visible in the foreground. The Earth's curvature can be seen as it rotates

Watch: The Northern Lights seen from space

A timelapse captured from the International Space Station shows the Moon setting into streams of aurora.

Science & Environment

Pink and green Northern Lights hang in the sky above a car in a field

Timelapse shows Northern Lights glowing above Wisconsin

The footage reveals the light show that concurred with the Perseid meteor shower earlier this week.

Science & Environment

The Titan Arum plant took 12 years before it successfully flowered in the venue's Glasshouse in 2015.

Rare 'corpse flower' blooms in botanical gardens

The Titan Arum plant produces a stench that has been compared to decaying flesh or smelly socks.

Science & Environment

Column of fire after rocket sets off from launch pad

Moment Ariane-6 rocket blasts into space on first flight

The vehicle set off from a launchpad in French Guiana on a demonstration mission.

Science & Environment

High winds and waves on coast

High winds and heavy rain as Caribbean hit by hurricane

Hurricane Beryl has made landfall with floods in Barbados, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada.

Science & Environment

Humpback whale's tail

Why scientists are using a crossbow to study whales

Researchers use the device to take remote biopsies from wild humpback whales to monitor their health.

Science & Environment

Female duck and chicks

Duckling family march to safety at Hardwick Hall

The annual duck march has been a tradition at Sedgefield’s Hardwick Hall Hotel for the past 24 years.

Science & Environment

Mountain lion in Los Angeles

Video captures new mountain lion spotted in Hollywood

While the giant cats are native to California, it is rare for them to make their way into the city of Los Angeles.

Science & Environment

Sea lion on row boat

Malnourished sea lion jumps into rowing boat

The animal stayed in the boat for over 15 minutes and was later taken to get medical care.

Science & Environment

Squid attacking camera

Rare footage shows deep-sea squid attacking camera

Watch video of the super-fast Dana squid getting a close-up 1km below the Pacific Ocean's surface.

Science & Environment

BBC Environment Correspondent Jonah Fisher asks Water Minister Robbie Moore

BBC asks if quality of water for bathing really is improving

BBC environment correspondent talks to water minister about bathing water quality

Science & Environment