Introduction

Biodiversity or biological diversity means the range and variety of life on earth.

We all depend on biodiversity for food and materials such as medicines, clean air and water; and to stabilise land and help prevent flooding.

But we are losing biodiversity at an alarming rate.

Not enough is being done to protect our world.

While you may have heard a lot about biodiversity being lost in rainforests far away, biodiversity is all around us – in parks, rivers and fields and in your own garden – playing a big part in our quality of life.

Here in Britain we are losing our local biodiversity all the time through:

• Removal of hedgerows
• Building houses and roads
• Intensive agriculture (use of pesticides)
• Land drainage for building or agriculture
• Introduced species spreading disease or out competing natives (e.g. mink, grey squirrel, signal crayfish)
• Destroying peat bogs to utilize the peat from them (95% of Britain's peat bogs destroyed in the last 50 years)

This sounds very gloom and doom, but there is plenty you can do to help.