There is consensus in the scientific community that the current environmental degradation and destruction of many of the Earth's biota is considerable and is taking place on a "catastrophically short timescale” Estimates of the current extinction rate is 1000 to 10,000 times more than the normal rate. For many people biological diversity, (biodiversity) has an intrinsic value that humans have a re
sponsibility towards other living things, and an obligation to future generations. On a more anthropocentric level, natural ecosystems provide human society with food, fuel and timber. Fundamentally, ecosystem services involve the purification of air and water, detoxification and decomposition of wastes, regulation of climate, regeneration of soil fertility and pollination of crops. Such processes have been estimated to be worth trillions of dollars annually. Habitat loss is the leading cause of both species extinctions and ecosystem service decline. The two ways to reverse this trend of habitat loss are conservation of currently viable habitat and restoration of degraded habitats.
