Often referred to as the "Godfather of Biodiversity," Thomas Lovejoy has dedicated his life to conserving the world's delicate ecosystems – and this week he told The Agenda with Stephen Cole how he wants to see the subject come to the forefront.

"It's time for biodiversity to come out of the shadows of the big environmental problems," he said, "it needs to come into its own for a period of remarkable achievement."

Lovejoy has had some remarkable achievements himself, especially with the success of "debt-for-nature swaps," which he first proposed in 1984. Since then, more than $3 billion in conservation funds have been made available through these schemes – a great example of how financial incentives are an effective way of making countries commit to their ecological targets.

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