You are here:

ARCHIVE: What is biodiversity?

The Convention on Biological Diversity defines biodiversity as:

Goshawk"The variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems."

This means all living things including plants and animals, any genetic variations, and the complex ecosystems of which they are part. It is not restricted to rare or threatened species but includes the whole of the natural world from the commonplace to the critically endangered.

Page last modified: 05 March 2010
Page published: 23 October 2008