The problem of global warming has received a lot of media attention recently. The extinction of species, at first glance, does not seem to be on a par with global warming. Yet Prof Edward Wilson, from Harvard University, considers that "the quenching of life's exuberance will be more consequential to humanity than all of present day global warming, ozone depletion and pollution combined".

In a documentary entitled State of the Planet, screened on BBC 1 on November 29th last, David Attenborough said unless major protective measures were taken now, we could lose up to half of the species of our world in the next 50 to 100 years. This should have sent shock waves, registering about eight on the Richter scale, around the world to rally governments and citizens to protect the delicate web of life. I did not see a single comment in the media during the following days.

I became aware of the massive destruction of species when I lived and worked among the T'boli people in the southern Philippines in the late 1970s. Tropical forests teem with a rich variety of plants, animals, reptiles, birds, insects and fish species, almost half the species on the earth, according to many biologists.

The global destruction of rainforests in recent decades has devastated the biosphere. Edward Wilson estimated in 1992 that 27,000 species were being lost each year. Many experts now consider this to be a conservative estimate.

Species extinction is not just a Third World problem. In Britain and Ireland, intensive agriculture and hedge-cutting have taken a huge toll on the environment. The Wildlife Act, amended in 1999, was designed to stop the massacre of hedges during the breeding and nesting season, April 1st to August 30th.

To date, as far as I know, there has not been a single prosecution under the Act. County councils, in fact, are one of the main culprits.

A study undertaken by BirdWatch Ireland and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in Northern Ireland found that, in a period of seven years in the 1990s, the number of endangered bird species grew by 50 per cent. These included larks, yellowhammers, corn buntings and corncrakes.

Three species of wild flowers, corn cockle, corn chamomile and shepherd's needle, have become extinct in recent years. When I was growing up in the 1950s, clumps of cowslips, buttercups and primroses decorated most fields. They have almost all vanished and been replaced by ubiquitous, monotonous ryegrass.

The present "extinction spasm" is the sixth such event in the past 600 million years of life on earth. It is, according to the British biologist, Norman Myers, the greatest setback to life's abundance and diversity since the first flickerings of life emerged almost four billion years ago. On this occasion, the destruction is due to human activity, which is destroying the habitat of other creatures.

Extinction on such a massive scale is so horrendous that it is difficult to grasp. Many species are being pushed beyond the precipice, before scientists have been able to identify them and decide whether they might be useful as a food or health source for human beings, now or in the future.

Yet few of the people who make crucial economic or political decisions today have any grasp of how thoroughly we are tearing apart the web of life and what the consequence will be for all life, including human life.

At the moment, a mere three species of cereals - wheat, rice and maize - are the staple food for half the world's population. Potentially, there are thousands of species that could be developed to meet the needs of a growing human population.

WITH rapid extinction, many of these may be gone before their food value is discovered. The same is true for medicinal plants.

Father Thomas Berry, a writer on environmental issues, believes the destruction of life must be seen as one of the most serious moral issues of our times.

"Extinction is an eternal concept. It is not at all like killing an individual life form that can be renewed by the normal process of reproduction, nor is it something that can be remedied, nor is it something that will affect only our generation. No! It is an absolute and final act for which there is no remedy on earth or in heaven."

We need to change radically and develop a new respect for all life before it is too late. Christians, who at this time of the year celebrate the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, believe that He came so that all may "have life and have it to the full" (John. 10:10). There can be no fullness of life on an impoverished planet.

Sean McDonagh is a Columban Missionary, a director of Voice, and author of Greening the Christian Millennium.