Every day the destruction of habitats, illegal trade, poaching, pollution, climate change endanger the animal and plant species of our planet. Today, species are becoming extinct at a rate about 100 times faster than in the past. It is in the face of this emergency that this year, on 22 May, World Biodiversity Day is celebrated. The anniversary was established by the United Nations to commemorate May 22, 1992, when the text of the Convention on Biological Diversity was adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro: it entered into force on December 29, 1993, so far 193 countries have ratified it.

The theme is "From agreement to action: build back biodiversity".

The figures are alarming. According to the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, around 1 million animal and plant species are threatened with extinction. Many of them could become extinct within a few decades.

Since the sixteenth century at least 680 species of vertebrates have been driven to extinction and more than 9% of all domesticated mammal breeds, used for food and agriculture, have become extinct and at least 1,000 other breeds are now threatened. The average abundance of native species in most terrestrial habitats has declined by at least 20%, accelerating over the past hundred years. More than 40% of amphibian species, nearly 33% of corals and more than a third of all marine mammals are threatened.

The picture is less clear for insect species, but the scientific evidence available so far tells us that 10% is threatened with extinction, with serious decay of a very important service that they offer to nature and the economy, that of pollination. Since 1990, the Earth has lost 287 million hectares of forests (13 million in 2017), an area equal to almost 10 times that of Italy (30 million hectares).