The United Nations has declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity to promote conservation and sustainable biodiversity. In October, Japan will host the 10th U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity, an event held every two years.
Biodiversity is defined as the "variability among living organisms from all sources, including diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems," according to the U.N. Convention, which was first signed in 1992.
Environmentalists say the loss of biodiversity is not just about losing the richness of the natural environment but will negatively effect the ecological processes the planet depends on.