While we often see headlines about the loss of species, it appears that society has yet to fully appreciate the importance of biodiversity. We are slowly making progress. On 29 December 1993, the Convention on the Biological Diversity (CBD) entered into force. The United Nations Biodiversity Conference (COP15), held in Montreal in December 2022, generated a landmark agreement to guide global action on nature through to 2030. It is expected that this achievement will be reflected in concrete action to protect biodiversity involving many young scientists, activists, scholars and entrepreneurs.