The forum, taking place at the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) headquarters, will be attended by 1,200 researchers, environmentalists and decision-makers, it said.

The conference was sketched by French President Jacques Chirac at the G8 summit in Evian, France, in June 2003.

It will have no power of decision-making but could act on the problem by proposing solutions, such as creating a world panel of biodiversity experts.

A similar scientific panel exists under UN auspices on climate change.

It has issued a series of well-researched reports that have had a major impact on awareness of global warming.

Of the estimated 10 million species on Earth, only 1.7 million have been identified and described.

Each year between 25,000 and 50,000 species die out, according to scientists' estimates.

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