theLiving1eTechtheLivingWorld2TechtheLivingWorld3Biodiversity:Complex,andwithmultiplechallengesandstakeholders,biodiversityistoooftenneglected,orevenforgottenentirely.Yetthepreservationofthelivingisamajorconcern.Itis,infact,theothergreatchallengeforhumanity-alongwithglobalwarming.Indeed,thecollapseofbiodiversityisathreattoourownhumansurvivalandleadsustoquestiontheplaceofhumankindintheglobalecosystem.Biodiversitythewoodsthatcantbeseenforthetrees4A ofanxiety,tothepointwherethetermr“Thehealthofecosystems,onwhichweandallotherspeciesdepend,isdeterioratingmorerapidlythanever.Weareerodingtheveryfoundationsofoureconomies,livelihoods,foodsecurity,health,andqualityoflifeworldwide”,thatnatureprovides.“Wereapamultitudeofbenefitsfromnature,andfromecosystems,whicharevitaltooursurvival”,explainsBiodiversitythewoodsthatcantbeseenforthetrees5includeflowcontrol(ofwater,CO2,etc.)viatheoceans,wetlandsandforests,pollinationcarriedoutbyamultitudeofinsects,withoutwhichhalfourcropswouldnotbeabletogrow,themanufactureofdrugs-themajorityofwhicharedirectlyorindirectlyderivedfromnaturalsubstances-aswellasthereservoirofnaturalandgeneticresources.”Andthebiologistwarns:“Theseservicesarefreefornow,aslongasbiodiversityallowsit.Buteconomically,everyyear,theyexceedtheyearlyglobalGDP.”rsortheoverexploitation“Itwouldbeavainattempttorankthecausesofdamagetoourbiodiversity,”TatianaGiraudadds.“Climatechange,thespreadofinvasivespecies,ortheoverexploitationofresourcesarecloselylinkedandactsynergistically.”“Itwouldbeavainattempttorankthecausesofdamagetoourbiodiversity,”TatianaGiraudadds.“Climatechange,thespreadofinvasivespecies,ortheoverexploitationofresourcesarecloselylinkedandactsynergistically.”“Biodiversityisinvisible.Betweenaheatwave,astorm,oraflood,andthesteadyandBiodiversitythewoodsthatcantbeseenforthetrees6inevitabledeclineofpollinatinginsects,thereisadifferenceinintensitythatmisleads“Climatechangeis,infact,justoneofthesymptomsofamuchmoreglobalsystemiccrisis.Ifwemissthepoint,weruntheriskofmissingthesolution”,warnsVincentResearch(FRB),“therearescientificcontroversiesrelatingtotheextentofthiserosion.Lifeadapts.Ecosystemsaffectedbyhumanactivitychangetheirstateandstrikeanewbalance:somespeciesdisappear,butotherscandevelop.Whenaforestisclearedtomakewayforfieldsorpastures,theecosystemlosesdiversity,itbecomessimpler,butalllifedoesnotdisappear.Inplainlanguage,wearenotwipingoutbiodiversity”(3).Asanexample,Biodiversitythewoodsthatcantbeseenforthetrees7Biodiversitythewoodsthatcantbeseenforthetrees8haddisappearedby1980“Extinctionratesaregrowingexponentially,andwecannotprotectjustthespecieswedeemtobeuseful.Whichspecieswillbeusefultomorrowforcreatingnewdrugs,orfordevelopingnewfoodresources?Wedon’tknow.Weknowevenlessaboutwhichotherspecieswillbenecessaryforthesurvivalofthepreviousones…Whatwedoknow,however,usingsoilcultivationasanexample,isthatthegreaterthebiodiversity,thegreatertheincreaseinproductivity.”“Wemuststopbelievingthatwearenotdependentonnatureandthatwewillalwaysbeabletorecreateorreplacewhatwehavemadedisappear.Admittedly,awarenessonthetopicisgrowinginanincreasingportionofthepopulation,buttheresistanceoflobbiesisstillpowerful”,remarksTatianaGiraud.CivilCode,“animalsarelivingbeingsgiftedwithsentience”.Butthetextadds,“subjecttothelawsthatprotectthem,animalsaresubjecttotheregimeofgoods”.Yetmaterial“Ourenvironmentallawisstructurallyincapableofrecognizingtheinterdependenceofnaturalentitiesandthecomplexmechanismsthatgovernbiodiversity”,ofnature. Biodiversitythewoodsthatcantbeseenforthetrees9Biodiversitythewoodsthatcantbeseenforthetrees10“ThisfirststepisimportantbecauseitshowsthatgrantinglegalpersonhoodtoanecosysteminEuropeispossible”,applauds“Legalpersonhoodoflivingbeingsisnolongeranissueinmanystates.Aroundtwentyofthemnowrecognizetherightsofnatureonanationalorlocalscale.Itisnolongeratheorybutatruepractice”,notesMarineCalmet.laGlobalbiodiversitygovernanceneedstomoveforward11AccordingtoPhilippeGrandcolas,researchdirectoratCNRS,managementandgovernancetoolsalreadyexist,butthestakeholders,startingwithcountries,mustdeveloptheirinvestment.dpGlobalbiodiversitygovernanceneedstomoveforward12effective?whichisdisastrouseheeGlobalbiodiversitygovernanceneedstomoveforward13ndbogsouttobemoreefficientoringGlobalbiodiversitygovernanceneedstomoveforward14forests,andwildflowerfields.deserttortoisestodayisunderthreatfrom…iteonand“Forinstance,wehadatoughtimedesigningthealgorithmtodealwithmountains,because,onasatelliteimage,ridgepatternscanresembletrails.”efortheirtnsndRisingtothechallengeofbiodiversity17aCapgeminiGroupHeadofSustainabilityServicesandCorporateilityandCEOofCapgeminiInventandMarkoCemovicAWSPrincipalofceoftechnologyinhelpingtoachievegreatersustainabilityandprotectbiodiversity. ’’Risingtothechallengeofbiodiversity18Risingtothechallengeofbiodiversity19ge keyleverstoactforbiodiversity.’’yRisingtothechallengeofbiodiversity20eRisingtothechallengeofbiodiversity21sa“We’vebeenabletoidentifyindividualwhalesthankstoimagesoftheirtailfins,whichshowuniquemarkingsandstructure,theequivalentofhumanfingerprints”,accordingspotthesetailfinswithinsbasedin“Wetackledeachdatasourceindividually,designingamodelthatwouldidentifytheoutliersineachset”,explainsAnupamvolumesofdata:“Wehadtonormalizethedataandpadoutthemissingareas”addsDavidHowtechcancometotherescueofthelivingworld24HowtechcancometotherescueofAI,machinelearning,datafication,drones,robotsandsatellites:intheair,intheearthandunderthewater,thesetoolscontributeandtotheirprotection.H goaloftechnologyshouldbetoimprovehumanlife,butitcanparadoxicallydestroyvitalfoundationsofourlife”,sumsup“thereisaconsensusthattechnologyisnotamiraclesolution.Itishoweverhardtoimaginehowthisproblemcouldbesolvedwithoutit,whenlookingatitspotentialtotransformentiresystems,includingagriculture”,Aurélie“Itisuptoustomaketechnologyanenablerofparadigmshiftsalongkeyvaluechains.Istronglybelieveagricultureisatthecoreofthistransformation.Indeed,agritechisanessentialsolutiontorestorenotonlybiodiversitybutalsothesynergieswiththelivingworldwedependon.Itisnottoolatetoreversethecrisis,asbiodiversityishighlyresilient,andtheprocessofrestorationcouldturnouttobeswift.”Howtechcancometotherescueofthelivingworld25Initsethicalmanifestoentitled“Thefutureoflife,ourvaluesforaction”,publishedin2021,interference”.“Anyactionshouldbedesignedandconductedinsuchawaythatitinterferesintheleastpossiblewaywithspontaneousbiologicalandecologicalprocesses.(…)Inanycase,technologymustremainahumbleservant.”n“theethicaldimensionofthemanipulationofspontaneousprocessesofnature,inotherwordsthesteeringofbiodiversity.Itisnecessarytoleavebehindtheanthropocentricapproach,bybeingguidedmorebyrespectandthelivingtogetherofhumansandnon-humans.”“mutagenesistechniques[aimedatvoluntarilyintroducinggeneticmutationswithinalivingorganism]willneverbeabletoinnovateasnaturedoes.Itisimpossibletocombinemillionsofmutationsinthelaboratory,whichhaverequiredthousandsofyearsofevolution.Andthisiswithouttakingintoaccounttheadverseconsequencesoftheseculturedorganismsonbiodiversity.”Yetthebiologistadmits,“ecologicalengineeringcanbeuseful”.ItcanhelpHowtechcancometotherescueofthelivingworld26Howtechcancometotherescueofthelivingworld27 “Technologyhastransformedconservationfundforbiodiversity,“thanks,amongothers,todrones,satelliteimaging,cameratraps,andnewgene-sequencingtechniques.Wecanalsotakeadvantageofnewtechnologiestoreducetheimpactofindustryonbiodiversity.”spartneredwithSogetiestbeetlestargetingtheinfestedtrees,“We’vedevelopedadeeplearningalgorithmtodefinethepatternsofdamagecausedbytheseinsects,thankstothesatellites,whichobtainimagesoftheterritoriesusingtheentirelightspectrum,fromultraviolettoinfrared.Bycomparingtheseimagesatdifferentdates,wecanidentifytheareaswhereattacksaretakingplace”,explainsMarcusAsolutionthatisefficient“Insteadofusingplanesordrones,orsimplyroamingthroughtheforeststryingtospotdiseasedtrees,youcannowrelyonsatellitesthatcancovermillionsofhectares”,headds.forestsareunderthreatfrom“We’vealsodevelopedtoolsthatcanbeusedforsimilarattacks,likeinCanadawherethere’saproblemofinvasiveearthworms.Allweneedaretheimages”,“We’vebeenabletocheck,byusingdrones,thatthisdatawas100%reliable.Wecannowdetectandmanagetheaffectedareasandthereforereducethespreadofsprucebarkbeetles”,towardsthearcticforests. Howtechcancometotherescueofthelivingworld30Howtechcancometotherescueofthelivingworld31“Decisionsarebeingmadeaboutnatureandbiodiversitywithoutarealunderstandingofthelivingworld’scomplexity.Nowwehaveatoolforturningnatureintodataatscale:eDNA.ThankstotheeDNAtechnologiesthatwe’vevalidatedacrossmanyecosystemsglobally,environmentalDNAmethodsarealreadygeneratinglargescaledatathatcapturestheentirechainoflivingbeingsfrombacteriatovertebratesandmore”,explains’’thereisnowdataavailableforpreciselyanalyzingbiodiversityenablescompaniestosetenvironmentalobjectivesthataremeasurableandavoidgreenwashinglawsuits.Thus,theycanknowaccuratelytheimpactoftheiractivityonnature.”“Itisprobable,”sheadds,“thatinthefuture,regulationswillimposeamoreprecisemeasureoftheimpactofbusinessesontheenvironment.AllthosethatalreadyuseeDNAarelayingthefoundationsforwhatwill,intime,becomeForthemitisalso“thechancetobetterevaluatetheirnatureprotectionandes“Theseorganizationshavedevelopedon-the-groundexpertiseandenvironmentalprotectionowhowobservesJrmeDuberrya(IHEID).And“Theservicesprovidedbythisgroupofbodiesarenumerous,rangingfromHowtechcancometotherescueofthelivingworld