Congratulations for making serious and important decisions about your use of climate crisis terminology (18 May). With one big exception: the use of “wildlife” rather than “biodiversity”. “Wildlife” used to mean “animals” (far from all living diversity), and has morphed into some sort of general term for things in nature reserves. It is those cute things Sir David watches from behind trees. In contrast, biodiversity is straightforward. It is the diversity of life – all the things we need to look after, from elephants to bacteria, and from ecosystems to molecular DNA diversity.
Emeritus Professor John Bolton
University of Cape Town
• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com
• Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters
• Do you have a photo you’d like to share with Guardian readers? Click here to upload it and we’ll publish the best submissions in the letters spread of our print edition
