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Eye on biodiversity

Loveday Wright & André LeslieFebruary 11, 2014

Conservative estimates suggest that the planet could be losing at up to 2,000 species a year. DW looks at efforts to protect endangered plants and animals and examines what challenges lie ahead for preserving ecosystems.

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ARCHIV - Ein Bengal-Tiger im Tiger-Garten Waldeck in Ingelheim am Rhein (Foto vom 07.05.2012). Sieben von den in der Natur als stark gefährdet eingestuften Bengal-Tigern oder auch Königstigern haben im Tiger-Garten Waldeck ein Zuhause. Von den in Indien, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh und West-Myanmar vorkommenden Tigern leben nach Schätzungen der Naturschutzorganisation World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) noch etwa 1.850 Tiere. Foto: Fredrik von Erichsen dpa/lrs (zu lrs-Korr "Tiger am Rhein" vom 30.05.2012) +++(c) dpa - Bildfunk+++
Image: picture-alliance/dpa

The UN General Assembly has declared 2011 to 2020 as the Decade on Biodiversity. The initiative serves to support and promote implementation of the objectives of the UN's Strategic Plan for Biodiversity and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, with the goal of significantly reducing biodiversity loss worldwide.

Still, habitat destruction, trade in animal parts and climate change are all to blame for ongoing biodiversity loss around the world. Estimates on yearly and even daily species loss vary worldwide significantly, but the figures clearly don't paint a positive picture.

DW finds out more about efforts to save the planet's threatened species and their habitats.

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