Thomas Eisner once said: "Biodiversity is the greatest treasure we have... its decline must be prevented at all costs" ("Quotes from Famous "). Biodiversity is the variety of life on Earth and the importance of maintaining it is not well understood around the world. As humans continue to conquer the planet, they are impacting their surrounding environment. When people drive a species to extinction, it will upset the balance in its own ecosystem. For example, without prey in a specific ecosystem, the predator would be left with less food to eat. There are 20 species of plants, such as wheat and corn, which provide 90% of the world's food (“Why save money”). Animals and plants provide people with food and medicine, and taking away these two beneficial factors would negatively change human life. Instead of endangering species through habitat destruction, the fashion industry, and hunting, humans must protect threatened species because wildlife extinction can jeopardize human survival. Habitat loss poses the greatest threat to plants and animals, affecting approximately 85% of all species. The three main types of habitat loss are destruction, fragmentation and degradation (“habitat loss”). Destruction occurs when humans bulldoze trees or fill wetlands. Wildlife is being cut down to create roads and human development, which is called fragmentation. Habitats can become so degraded that they can no longer support wildlife, due to pollution and invasive species. If the removal of natural habitats does not slow down, mass extinctions are bound to occur. The Araripe Manakin is a bird whose habitat has been minimized due to the expansion of agriculture and recreational facilities. Only about 779 individuals remain...... middle of paper ......de, 2006. Web. March 31, 2014."The leather industry." PETA. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, n.d. Web. March 30, 2014. “The 100 Most Endangered Species.” LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 11 September 2012. Web. 26 March 2014. The matrix. Dir. Andy Wachowski and Lana Wachowski. Perf. Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss. Warner Bros., 1999. DVD."Mountain Gorilla." AWF. African Wildlife Foundation, 2014. Web. 30 March 2014. “Terrestrial Protected Areas.” The World Bank. The World Bank Group, 2014. Web. 27 March 2014. “Quotes from Eminent Scientist Signatories.” Union of Concerned Scientists. Convio and Web. 16 March 2014. "Why save" endangered species. Lauren Kurpis, 2002. Web. March 24, 2014. “Wildlife and Pollution.” MarineBio. MarineBio, 2014. Web. March 27, 2014. “The Wool Industry.” PETA. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, n.d. Web. March 30. 2014.