BIODIVERSITY FACTSHEET

From the hot arid deserts of the Sahara, through the lush green rainforests of the Amazon, to the ocean depths and bright corals, our natural world is a marvel of different landscapes, materials, colours and textures. The land, air and seas of our planet are home to the tiniest insects and the largest animals, which make up a rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces. This is life, this is biodiversity. Biodiversity found on Earth today consists of many millions of distinct biological species, the product of four billion years of evolution. However, the word “Biodiversity” is relatively new, and is thought to have first been coined as a contraction of the term “biological diversity” in 1985 and then popularised by a number of authors.