1
00:00:05,490 --> 00:00:11,970
Biodiversity is a term that represents the total variety of all life on Earth.

2
00:00:12,490 --> 00:00:14,750
That's a big thing to sum up.

3
00:00:15,970 --> 00:00:20,429
Thousands of different wild habitats, millions of different species,

4
00:00:21,309 --> 00:00:23,190
billions of different individuals,

5
00:00:23,190 --> 00:00:27,530
and the trillions of different characteristics they all have.

6
00:00:30,230 --> 00:00:34,329
The total biodiversity of our planet is immense,

7
00:00:35,210 --> 00:00:39,030
Which is a good thing, because the more biodiversity,

8
00:00:39,770 --> 00:00:44,689
the more secure all life on Earth is, including ourselves.

9
00:00:45,750 --> 00:00:51,109
Only when life is at its most varied, vigorous, biodiverse,

10
00:00:51,429 --> 00:00:52,929
can we hope to thrive.

11
00:00:53,909 --> 00:00:57,689
We may not know it, but we need towering forests

12
00:00:58,210 --> 00:01:00,829
across one third of the land's surface

13
00:01:00,829 --> 00:01:04,109
to lock away carbon and keep the climate stable.

14
00:01:04,329 --> 00:01:09,370
We need millions of pollinators and billions of soil organisms

15
00:01:09,370 --> 00:01:14,409
and megatons of plankton to keep the food we eat in supply.

16
00:01:15,430 --> 00:01:20,670
We need strange plants deep in jungles to create our medicines

17
00:01:20,670 --> 00:01:26,209
and coral reefs and mangrove swamps to protect the coasts we depend upon.

18
00:01:27,129 --> 00:01:31,530
Our planet's biodiversity provides all the things we need for free,

19
00:01:32,370 --> 00:01:35,390
But it will only do so if there's lots of it.

20
00:01:35,870 --> 00:01:37,930
And at the moment, it's under attack.

21
00:01:40,269 --> 00:01:47,010
In the last 50 years, our activities have dramatically reduced biodiversity across the globe.

22
00:01:47,370 --> 00:01:53,769
We've snuffed out habitats, reduced populations of wild animals by 60%,

23
00:01:53,769 --> 00:01:56,989
and even driven whole species extinct.

24
00:01:57,909 --> 00:02:02,950
The number of lions in Africa has dropped by 65%.

25
00:02:02,950 --> 00:02:09,009
The number of individual flying insects in Europe has dropped by 75%.

26
00:02:09,009 --> 00:02:15,009
The number of bluefin tuna in the Pacific has dropped by 95%.

27
00:02:15,009 --> 00:02:19,349
Biodiversity is dropping everywhere and fast.

28
00:02:20,150 --> 00:02:24,090
This is catastrophic for nature and therefore ourselves.

29
00:02:25,090 --> 00:02:30,990
We talk about climate change a lot, but biodiversity loss is as important an issue.

30
00:02:31,530 --> 00:02:34,069
How do we stop this loss of life?

31
00:02:34,069 --> 00:02:40,729
How do we ensure that biodiversity, our planet's vital statistic, begins to increase again?

32
00:02:41,449 --> 00:02:44,389
In fact, we already know exactly what to do.

33
00:02:54,189 --> 00:03:00,590
Follow Our Planet, visit ourplanet.com and watch the series on Netflix.