The biodiversity emergency

Nature restores, but is itself in need of restoration. Due to our constant commodification of the natural world we are erasing huge chunks of its awe-inspiring variety and damaging ourselves in the process. This edition's big story amplifies some of the concerns of those who live closest to nature, while attempting to get to grips with the complex challenges involved if we want to stop biodiversity's catastrophic decline. In the words of author Lucy Jones, we can no longer view nature as 'a luxury, an extra, a garnish.'