What is biodiversity?

North America’s Great Plains is more than just grass: it is a biologically rich system of life. The diverse plant and wildlife species and the cultures and traditions of Indigenous People and other rural communities are all deeply interconnected and dependent on one another.

Native grazers like bison help keep the grasslands healthy by foraging on plants, which keeps trees and other woody plants at bay, redistributing nutrients, and providing food and habitat for other wildlife species. These natural interactions allow the land to store carbon, sustain biodiversity, and provide food, clean water, and livelihoods for millions of people.

But this balance is under threat. Each year, millions of acres of grassland are converted to cropland, disrupting these connections, harming wildlife populations, and weakening these ecosystems’ ability to recover and support both nature and people. It’s a reminder that the health of these landscapes and our own well-being is deeply dependent on keeping this balance intact.

Flowing through the heart of Southeast Asia, the Mekong River stretches through Myanmar, Lao PDR, Thailand, Cambodia, and Viet Nam. Often called “the mother of all things,” it supports the lives, livelihoods, and food security of tens of millions of people. Its natural water flows sustain an extraordinary diversity of life, from forests and wetlands to one of the richest freshwater fish populations in the world. These fishes have made the Mekong Basin the planet’s largest inland fishery. This multi-billion-dollar resource provides essential food and income for millions, showing how closely people depend on healthy, thriving ecosystems.

Within Borneo’s distinct and biologically rich ecoregions, more than 1,400 animal species live among some of the highest plant diversity on Earth, with at least 15,000 plant species. This massive Southeast Asian island hosts iconic wildlife, including orangutans, pygmy elephants, clouded leopards, rhinos, and proboscis monkeys, along with extraordinary plant life, from carnivorous plants to some of the world’s tallest tropical trees.

But Borneo’s vast wealth of natural resources has attracted more than nature lovers. Global demand for pulp and paper, palm oil, rubber, coal, minerals, and various hardwoods has led to large-scale, international interests that have worked to extract as much as they can from the island.

As a result, Borneo’s forests are in crisis. Since the 1980s, half of its forests have been wiped out, and deforestation continues at one of the highest rates in the world. This is not only increasing pressure on wildlife, many species of which are already threatened or endangered, but also on the lives and livelihoods of the Indigenous and local communities that depend on these forests for survival. By protecting these forests, we’re also ensuring a future for wildlife and people.