Biodiversity is the result of millions of years of evolution and incorporates all organisms that make up life on earth, from micro-organisms to plants and animals, in both terrestrial and aquatic environments. Biodiversity embraces three main levels; genetic diversity – all the genetic diversity of individuals; species diversity – the estimated 30 – 50 million individual species on earth; and ecosystem diversity – the different communities and habitats and the ecological and biological processes that support them (1).
