Hello I'm Edward Norton, the United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity.

Many people around the world remain totally unaware that the Earth is losing its incredible array of plant and animal life at an unprecedented and alarming rate.

The dangers to our global biodiversity and the impacts this will have on human society are clearly spelled out in a major report issued earlier this year by the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

This report stresses that if we continue with business as usual, we will soon reach a tipping point, causing irreparable and irreversible damage to the major ecosystems that support life on our planet.

To stop this relentless loss we must confront the indifference and often ignorance of the importance of biodiversity. This is why the United Nations declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity.

More than ever, humanity needs to reconnect with nature. And we must demand that our leaders accept special responsibility for this. A new vision is urgently needed and the time for action is now − with each of us, without exception, as a family of people, committed to protect life on Earth.

You can start to make a difference today by checking out www.crowdrise.com to read about some fantastic organizations that are working to support the preservation of biodiversity and you can visit www.cbd.int/2010 to learn more about what the UN is doing to preserve our species and habitats.

July 8, 2010