'Library of Life' Critical to Earth’s Survival

A United Nations official renewed calls for the protection of biodiversity, citing that the “library of life” was critical to humankind’s own survival as nature provided vital resources.

At the launch of 2010 as the International Year of Biodiversty, UNDP Environment and Energy Group Director Veerly Vanderweerd said: “The loss of biodiversity and the degradation of natural resources impact first and foremost the poor and the women and the vulnerable and we should not forget that three quarters of the world’s population depend on natural resources for their daily living and their daily survival, from the food, the shelter, the recreation, everything; three quarters of the world population is directly related to biodiversity on this planet.”