‘Life on Earth’ project gets under way

The journal Nature reports that the first project in a series of ambitious Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) global biodiversity assessments is being initiated. It will assess the health of bees and other pollinators. Governments established IPBES in 2012 in response to concerns about the lack of international efforts to tackle threats to biodiversity. It now has 118 member nations.