Measures currently being taken to conserve and preserve biodiversity are necessary but not sufficient. More needs to be done to raise individual and collective awareness of the negative impact that the practices of today’s consumer society are likely to have on biodiversity.

Conservation measures
Efforts to protect biodiversity have for many years focused on the same objective but have followed two different paths:

• conservation of species 
• preservation of ecosystems.

Conservation programmes may be carried out either ex situ (off site) in zoos, arboretums and seed repositories or else in situ (on site) in the natural habitat itself.
A few dozen years ago, the Antarctic Treaty, the (worldwide) Ramsar Convention and the (regional) Berne Convention were already working to preserve biodiversity via the creation of protected areas  (regulated and managed so as to achieve specific conservation objectives).
In June 1992, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was signed at the Rio de Janeiro Earth Summit. As a framework convention with worldwide scope, the CBD commits the 188 countries signing it to conserve biological diversity, to use it in a sustainable manner and to share the benefits that are derived from it.

As well as including regulations forbidding hunting for and trade in certain endangered species, the convention contributes to protecting ecosystems by providing for the creation of protected areas.

Port-Cros National Park 

How the oil industry is responding
Since 1992, the International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA) has been stressing the theme of biodiversity, and in 2002 the body set up a Biodiversity Working Group (BDWG) in partnership with the Association of Oil and Gas Producers (OGP).

The main aim of these actions is to share and foster the adoption of Best Practices and to deepen understanding of the areas where biodiversity and oil industry operations come together. IPIECA has also promoted networking and partnerships with bodies such as the World Conservation Union (IUCN) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) as well as working to communicate with stakeholders.

	Some lists of protected sites:
	RAMSAR list: wetlands of international importance. 1,610 sites listed, with a combined surface area of 1.45 million sq. km as of August 2006.
	World Heritage List (UNESCO): in 2006, this list included 830 sites, of which 77% were cultural sites, 20% natural sites and 3% a mixture of the two.
	Biosphere Reserves: the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme covers 482 reserves in 102 countries (in 2006).
	United Nations list of protected areas, 2003: this includes more than 102,000 onshore terrestrial and marine sites with a combined surface area of 18.8 million sq. km (about 4% of the total surface of the Earth), including about 68,000 protected areas classified by the IUCN.
	The aim of the Natura 2000 ecological network is to contribute to the preservation of biological diversity within European Union territory. It includes sites designed by each member state according to the so-called EC “Birds” and “Habitat” Directives issued in 1979 and 1992.
	UICN Protected Areas: these are categorised as follows:  I.a. Strict Nature Reserve: protected area managed mainly for science. I.b. Wilderness Area: protected area managed mainly for wilderness protection. II. National Park: protected area managed mainly for ecosystem protection and recreation. III. Natural Monument: protected area managed mainly for conservation of specific natural features. IV. Habitat/Species Management Area: protected area (terrestrial or marine) managed mainly for conservation through management intervention. V. Protected Landscape/Seascape: protected area managed mainly for landscape/seascape protection  and recreation. VI. Managed Resource Protected Area: protected area managed mainly for the sustainable use of the natural ecosystems.