Unearthed - Mysteries from an unseen world

What is the biodiversity crisis?

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Episode notes

Nature needs us!

In series 3 of Unearthed, Dr Mya-Rose Craig begins the journey into what biodiversity loss means and why it matters to protect what we have left.

We find out what might happen if we continue to ignore the impacts of climate change and habitat destruction in terms of its impacts on our lives, along with future life on the planet. We also explore how human action has brought us to the current dual crises of biodiversity loss and climate change.

But there is still plenty of hope that we can slow down or halt these destructive processes thanks to scientific research and action across different levels of society.

Kew’s Steven Bachman shares insights into the technology helping us map and prioritise conservation research and work across the planet and Dr Isabel Larridon explains how data from Kew’s State of the World’s Plants and Fungi report is the wake-up call we need.

We hear from participants in the Global Biodiversity Standard: the world’s first international certification recognising and promoting the protection, restoration and enhancement of biodiversity.

And we travel to Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, one of the world’s most biodiverse regions, to follow researches on a ‘bioblitz’ to identify species. Then Sonia Dhanda explains how ‘wildlife trade policy’ is an important part of balancing how we utilise and conserve species around the world and across borders.

Dominique Palmer is joined by guests Sophie Pavelle and Camila Duarte Ritter to discuss what it means to ‘act now’ and why a combined effort from governments to scientists, community organisations and individuals is necessary to create positive, systemic change for nature.

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