ABSTRACT
This is a lofty and commendable goal and it is very positive that politicians have realized the potential economic importance attached to biodiversity. A key question now is: can such an inventory of biological diversity be done within a reasonable time? Habitat destruction is occurring rapidly and, consequently, many species disappear before we know they ever existed. It has taken science, since Linnaeus, 200 years to describe 1.4-1.8 million species.
