This is defined by the Convention on Biological Diversity as the
variability among living organisms from all sources (land, sea,
fresh water) and the ecological complexes of which they are a
part. Thus biological diversity includes diversity within and
between species, and diversity of ecosystems. This includes
natural and cultivated species, varieties, and ecosystems. It is
argued that biodiversity should be protected, because neither
the potential benefits of protection nor the consequences of the
loss of biodiversity have been fully identified. The first
formal recognition of the need for international cooperation to
protect biodiversity came in 1992 with the Convention on
Biodiversity and (in the same year) Agenda 21, which called for
the creation of an international protocol on biosafety and risk
assessment. This evolved into the Cartagena Protocol on
Biosafety, 2000. Resistance to the Cartagena Protocol focused on
the inclusion of genetically modified food products in the
agreement, because it was argue