A United Nations report says that "direct biodiversity loss, habitat change, over-exploitation, introduction of invasive species, nutrient loading, and climate change show no sign of abating." Painting a bleaker picture than the earlier report issued in 2001, the UN's Global Biodiversity Outlook 2 says that globally agreed 2010 goals are not achievable unless countries take "unprecedented steps." It noted that 6 million hectares of forest is felled every year and that 1/3 of mangrove forests have been lost since 1980s. While 12% of earth's surface is protected only .06% of the ocean is resulting in over-exploitation of marine life. For example, the hard coral in the Caribbean has declined from 50% to 10%. The earth's demands on biological resources is more than 20% of what it can renew and the growing 6.5 billion population is affecting thousands of species increasing the extinction rate to 1000 times. It noted with dismay that 844 known animals and plants have disappeared in the last 500 years.

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