A biodiversity summit is where scientists and policy-makers meet for talks on what can be done to preserve biodiversity.

Biodiversity is the variety of all life on Earth - including animals, plants, fungi and micro-organisms like bacteria.

Together they provide the planet with everything necessary for survival, including fresh water, clean air, food and medicine. Biodiversity matters because humans cannot get these benefits from individual species - a rich variety of living things must work together in harmony as part of an ecosystem.

Plants, for example, are very important for improving our physical environment: cleaning the air, limiting rising temperatures and providing protection against climate change.

Alarm call as world's trees slide towards extinction

Scientists assessing dangers posed to the world’s trees have revealed that more than a third of species are facing extinction in the wild.

Glaciers are not easy targets for any type of satellite to measure mass loss over time

Scientists have obtained their best satellite assessment yet of the status of the world's glaciers.

Europe's Cryosat satellite tracked the 200,000 or so glaciers on Earth and found they have lost 2,720bn tonnes of ice in 10 years due to climate change.

That's equivalent to losing 2% of their bulk in a decade.

Monitoring how quickly glaciers are changing is important because millions of people rely on them for water and farming.

Amur leopards are one of the most endangered species in the world

Targets to reverse the decline of biodiversity by 2030 may be missed without urgent action, according to a new report.

This goal was a key part of the UN global summit on biodiversity held in December 2022.

Nearly a third of all monitored species are currently endangered due to human activities.

The researchers studied more than 600 species of birds and mammals

Ambitious targets to halt the decline in nature may already be slipping out of reach, a study suggests.

Scientists say the effects of climate change and habitat loss on animal populations have been underestimated.

They say bringing back wildlife may take longer than expected and that unless we act now global biodiversity targets will be out of reach.

In December almost 200 countries agreed to halt the decline in nature by the end of the decade.