The data on biodiversity loss are alarming: less than 10% of the planet’s forests remain intact; the disappearance of animal and plant species is approximately 1,000 times greater than in times prior to the appearance of humans; Predictions suggest that by 2050 this rate will be 10,000 times higher. Greenpeace recalls that the signatory countries of the Convention on Biological Diversity, including Spain, have committed to establishing a global network of forest and marine protected areas as a way of ensuring the conservation of biodiversity for future generations.

This unprecedented rate of extinction of terrestrial and marine life has motivated Greenpeace to design and present detailed maps on biodiversity. This mapping has been carried out using high-resolution satellite images of the planet’s forests and marine life in the oceans. This has created a more precise scenario of how action can be taken to protect the most important ecosystems on the planet. Greenpeace calls on governments to establish a network of protected areas worldwide and have funding mechanisms in place to make this possible.

World Biodiversity Day coincides with Greenpeace’s work in protecting forests and oceans. The organization is active in the Amazon exposing deforestation of the rainforest for soy crops, and has established a resistance station to protect the Paradise Forests in Papua New Guinea. As for the oceans, the Greenpeace ship, the MY Esperanza, which arrived on Saturday, May 20 in Barcelona, is carrying out Greenpeace’s most ambitious expedition “A year in the life of the oceans”, which these days is focused on exposing the critical situation of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean.