Conservation actions are effective at reducing global biodiversity loss, according to a major study. …The authors said their findings offered a “ray of light” for those working to protect threatened animals and plants. One out of every three species monitored is currently endangered because of human activities. In the first study … scientists from dozens of research institutes reviewed 665 trials of conservation measures, some from as far back as 1890, in different countries and oceans and across species types, and found they had had a positive effect in two out of every three cases. Co-author Dr Penny Langhammer told said, “If you read the headlines about extinction, it would be easy to get the impression that we are failing biodiversity – but that’s not really looking at the whole picture. This study provides evidence that not only does conservation improve the state of biodiversity and slow its decline, but when it works, it really works.”