The number of species of animals and plants in Moldova that were included in the Red Book has increased considerably. The first edition of the Red Book contained 29 species of animals and 26 species of plants, while the second edition 117 species of animas and 116 species of plants. The main causes for the degradation of the biodiversity are the perturbation of the general geo-ecological equilibrium of the landscapes, the continuous degradation of the natural ecosystems, of the genetic fund of the spontaneous flora and of the wild animals, as well as the destruction of the migration ways of the wild animals and of the ways of dispersion of the plants from the spontaneous flora, specialists of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources say. Valentina Caldarus, deputy head of the Natural Resources and Biodiversity Division, told Tuesday, May 22, a news conference organised on the occasion of the World Biodiversity Day that the protection and sustainable conservation of the biological diversity is a global problem. Therefore, the international community in 1992 signed the Convention on Biological Diversity, which was ratified by Moldova in 1995. On the basis of the Convention, the Parliament in 2001 approved a National Strategy and a Plan of Action until 2010. According to Valentina Caldarus, there were carried out only 45% of the activities projected for 2000-2006 in the plan. This is explained by the lack of financial resources. In 1998, the authorities allocated 87 million lei for these activities. During 6 years, there was spent only 20 million lei, money that came mainly from foreign grants attracted by the Biodiversity Office, and the resources allocated by the National Ecological Fund. Vasile Scorpan, manager of the project Climate Change, said that Moldova would also be affected by the global warming. The rise in temperature, by 2-3 degrees on average, will make the climate in Moldova in 100 years look like the climate in the region of Turkey. Scorpan says that the desertification process will become more prominent and semidesert zones will appear in the south of Moldova. Currently, the natural areas protected by the state make up 4.65% of Moldova’s territory. For comparison, the natural preserves in Azerbaijan occupy 8%, in Germany 13%, in the UK 18%, in Austria 25%.