At no time in our history has there been a need for concerted action to protect and save our biodiversity – globally, continentally, nationally and locally. The Centre for Biological Diversity warns that our planet is now in the midst of its sixth mass extinction of plants and animals — the sixth wave of extinctions in the past half-billion years. We’re currently experiencing the worst spate of species die-offs since the loss of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Although extinction is a natural phenomenon, it occurs at a natural “background” rate of about one to five species per year. Scientists estimate we’re now losing species at up to 1,000 times the background rate, with literally dozens going extinct every day. It could be a scary future indeed, with as many as 30 to 50 percent of all species possibly heading toward extinction by mid-century. Strong, clear and robust leadership is needed today to address looming crises of poor land-use management, bad decision-making on environmental issues, species population declines and die-offs and unacceptable conservation practices. Conservation Leadership aims to support the development of stronger leaders in Africa to push back on the unrelenting drivers that are hurling us towards these catastrophic events.