Biodiversity is our most sophisticated information network and must be protected (commentary)

As a conservationist, I often find myself reflecting on the deeper meaning of biodiversity. Beyond its beauty and its value to human well-being, biodiversity represents the most ancient and sophisticated information network our planet has ever known. This October, when the world gathers in Abu Dhabi for the IUCN World Conservation Congress, we will be reminded of the urgency of protecting this living network before it is irreparably damaged. Long before humans developed language or writing, nature had perfected the art of storing and transmitting information. Each species represents a unique library of evolutionary wisdom, encoded in DNA refined over millions of years. When we lose a species, we don’t just lose a physical entity; we lose an irreplaceable repository of information that took