[Music] Hello everyone. We are all legacies of our past. People from around the world look, think, and behave differently because of their different ethnic and cultural pasts. And the same applies to communities of plants and animals from different parts of the world which can look and behave very differently even when they occur in similar environments because of their different evolutionary pasts.And this is shown by the world's most important group of animals. And that's right, I am talking about ants. A ...

[Music] I was born and raised in Brazil, a country of vibrant colors, untamed biodiversity, and sometimes quite dangerous. When I was three years old, Georgia, my baby sister, passed away. She had accidentally ingested a toxic plant in our living room.A silent tragedy, one that changed my life and my family forever. You might think that such a loss would have made me afraid of anything toxic or venomous, but it did something entirely different. It planted in me a deep lifelong awareness of nature's power an ...

[Music] Since the formation of the Earth 4 and a half billion years ago, there's been five major extinction events. We currently stand on the breaking tip of the sixth great wave of extinction. And if we don't want the next generation, our children and grandchildren to inherit a world that is less diverse, less beautiful than the one that we inherited.Then we got to try and preserve some of those last remaining wildernesses and biodiversity hotspots we have left. Now, an idea that's gaining a lot of tractio ...

[Applause] [Music] One day when I was at the age of seven, my world had shattered. I lived in the island of Sri Lanka and it was ripped by civil war and civil war had uh engulfed the island for almost a decade until it reached our neighborhood and government soldiers were um hit by a rebel landmine that had killed 20 troops and a high-ranking officer. The soldiers in turn were going door todo seeking revenge.As the chaos and the violence continued, my parents and I were hurriedly packing up to leave. And we ...

[Music] [Applause] So, I spend a great deal of my time on a university campus and I wear many hats. I'm an administrator. I'm a researcher. I'm a teacher.And today I'm going to talk about being a teacher and how to introduce this topic of environment to students who are not necessarily environmental studies students though we have those as well but they're from business, politics, law and different fields computer science. So how do I make this topic of environment relevant to them. and I only have 15 to 45 ...

In this compelling interview, Erik Grigoryan explores why Armenia’s exceptional biodiversity matters not just for nature lovers, but for the world at large. He explains how Armenia belongs to two of the world’s major biodiversity hotspots and how this rich natural heritage provides crucial services to local communities. Erik sheds light on the hidden economic value of ecosystems and the urgent need to protect them. This talk makes the case for stronger environmental policy, smarter financing, and broader pu ...

[Music] 32 years ago, I fell in love with bees. It all started when I was an undergraduate. I took a class in beekeeping.The first day we went out to the bey yard for lab, we opened up a hive of honey bees and we pulled out the comb, it was covered with hundreds of little worker bees all moving around, all doing things. I didn't understand really what I was seeing, but I was struck in that moment with a profound sense of awe. I wanted to know more. I wanted to understand what they were doing.And certainly t ...

The world at large is forgoing the benefits of research when biodiversity is under huge pressure, the threat of pandemics looms large and biology at last has the tools to make important progress. One reason is the Nagoya protocol https://t.co/LbkL1x9isVIllustration: Mariaelena Caputi ...

The world at large is forgoing the benefits of research when biodiversity is under huge pressure, the threat of pandemics looms large and biology at last has the tools to make important progress. One reason is the Nagoya protocol https://t.co/wIenJAN5nk ...

Biodiversity Conservation - Ecuador is one of the 17 most biodiverse countries on the planet, possessing four of the 36 biodiversity hotspots [4] - The speaker invested in rescuing a forest remnant of the Chocó, acquiring 12 hectares (approximately 30 acres) in Pacto, Quito [7] - The acquired forest contained 410 species of birds, including 30 species unique to the area [7][8] - The 100 hectares (approximately 247 acres) contained 35% of all bird species found in the United States (which has 983 million hectares) [8] - The initial 100 hectares were expanded to 3,050 hectares (approximately 7,537 acres) through the Fundación Futuro [8] - Conservation efforts led to the discovery of 21 new species for science [8] - Protected areas were expanded from 100 hectares to over 34,000 hectares (approximately 84,000 acres), similar in size to Cotopaxi National Park [10] - A collaboration aims to expand protected areas from 35,000 hectares to 500,000 hectares (approximately 1,235,527 acres) from Esmeraldas to Pichincha [12] Financial Mechanisms for Conservation - The speaker highlighted the need to develop financial mechanisms to compensate communities for carbon absorption by forests [13] - The speaker's foundation developed a system for a constant flow of money to communities [14] - $25 million (out of a planned $46 million over 10 years) was raised in a single year for conservation efforts [14] Future Projects - The speaker is planning to build a network of antennas to collect information from satellites in the equatorial and tropical regions [15][16] - The speaker has future plans for a geothermal plant and a 2,000-hectare (approximately 4,942 acres) solar panel plant for green hydrogen production [17] - The speaker has a vision for developing the aerospace industry in Ecuador, leveraging its equatorial location [18]