An endangered Agalychnis annae, commonly known as a Blue-Sided Leaf Frog, at the National Biodiversity Institute of Costa Rica, in Heredia, Costa Rica, Oct. 21, 2009 (AP photo by Kent Gilbert).

Last week, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, or IPBES, put out a call to arms to save endangered species and ecosystems. The body’s report, titled “Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services,” was based on the work of hundreds of scientists and thousands of scientific studies. It warned that no fewer than a million animal and plant species are at risk of extinction around the globe. “Biodiversity is declining faster than at any time in human history,” the report lamented—and humans are to blame. We have long taken the innumerable goods that nature provides […]