DIVERSITAS - an International Programme of Biodiversity Science

Plants, animals, their genetic diversity and their diverse habitats are being threatened as never before by factors such as habitat loss, overexploitation of resources or climate change - all of which result from human activities. These changes in biodiversity will have far-reaching and often unanticipated consequences on our Planet's life-support systems and on the services that humans derive from ecosystems. DIVERSITAS provides an international framework for scientists around the world to address the questions posed by biodiversity loss.

The mission of DIVERSITAS is to:

• Promote integrative biodiversity science, linking biological, ecological and social disciplines in an effort to produce socially relevant new knowledge
• Provide the scientific basis for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity
• Draw out the implications for policies for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity

DIVERSITAS seeks to:

• Develop common international frameworks for collaborative research
• Form research networks to tackle focused scientific questions
• Promote standardised methodologies
• Guide and facilitate construction of global databases
• Facilitate efficient patterns of resource allocation, and undertake analysis, synthesis and integration activities on particular biodiversity themes
• Promote practical application of cutting-edge science to support policy and contributing to the Convention on Biological Diversity

DIVERSITAS Annual Report 2011-2012