article: The diversity of life on Earth is increasing despite dire warnings that the planet is facing a mass extinction, a leading writer has claimed. Stewart Brand, president of the Long Now Foundation and editor of the Whole Earth Catalogue, believes the focus on widespread extinctions may actually be harmful. Instead he argues it is highly unlikely that the planet is facing a sixth mass extinction as many threatened species are recovering. This chart shows the increase in marine biodiversity from the fossil record and the five mass extinction events . His views are likely to be controversial with conservationists who have been warning that human activities risk killing off a large proportion of species on Earth in an event to rival the extinction of the dinosaurs. Mr Brand, who campaigns for long term solutions to the world's problems rather than short term policy decisions, said that the rate of discovery of new species was currently outstripping the loss of species to extinction. 1. Indonesia - 184 . 2. Madagascar - 114 . 3. Mexico - 101 . 4. India - 94 . 5. Brazil - 82 . 6. China - 73 . 7. Malaysia - 70 . 8. Thailand - 55 . 9. Australia - 55 . 10. Peru - 54 . Writing for Aeon, he said: 'Viewing every conservation issue through the lens of extinction threat is simplistic and usually irrelevant. 'Worse, it introduces an emotional charge that makes the problem seem cosmic and overwhelming rather than local and solvable.' Instead he argues that the trends for conservation are actually 'looking bright' as depleted ecosystems are being enriched and damage in others is slowing. He said: 'The five historic mass extinctions eliminated 70 per cent or more of all species in a relatively short time. That is not going on now.' Mr Brand points to recent research by the ecologist Mark Costello at the University of Auckland who found that the number of new species being recorded was now at around 18,000 a year. They said that the current extinction rate of one per cent of species per decade was far lower than the discovery rate of three per cent per decade. Fossil records also indicate that biodiversity in the world has been increasing for the past 200 million years and is now at its highest level ever. The black rhino, pictured, was considered to be one of the most endangered species in the world and intensive efforts have been made to help conserve the species and its numbers are slowly beginning to rise again . Major efforts to remove rats from Codfish Island in New Zealand has allowed the kakapo (above) to recover . Mr Brand also points to the efforts that have taken place on many islands around the world - where species are most vulnerable to extinction. He said that schemes to eradicate invasive species like rats and goats had been hugely successful and allowed many island species to bounce back. He also pointed to the example of cod, which the ICUN Red List describes as being threatened with extinction, but many cod fisheries are now recovering. Mr Brand, who is also a campaigner to reintroduce extinct species such as woolly mammoths and passenger pigeons, believes biotechnology could also help to bring other species back from the brink by allowing their genetic diversity to be improved. Sumatran orangutans (pictured) have a population of just a few thousand as their forests have been destroyed . He said that some wild animals are moving back into areas where they have long been absent by themselves. Salmon for example have moved back into the Rhine, Seine and the Thames as the water has becoe cleaner. Wolves, lynx and brown bears are also spreading in many parts of Europe. He said that even with climate change, it is unlikely that all of the 23,214 species currently deemed as threatened with extinction would die out. Ordovician-Silurian mass extinction - 443.4 million years ago . This was the third largest extinction in Earth's history, and had two peaks of dying separated by hundreds of thousands of years. Around 26 per cent of all marine families were wiped out and 60 per cent of all genera - an estimated 82-88 per cent of all species. Late Devonian mass extinction - 375-359 million years ago . Three quarters of all species on Earth died out in the Late Devonian mass extinction, though it may have been a series of extinctions over several million years. Around 22 per cent of all marine families, and 57 per cent of all genera were wiped out - an estimated 79-87 per cent of all species. Permian mass extinction - 252 million years ago . The Permian mass extinction has been nicknamed The Great Dying, since an incredible 96 per cent of species died out. All life on Earth today is descended from the 4 per cent of species that survived. Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction - 201 million years ago . There were two or three phases of extinction that made up the Triassic-Jurassic mass extinction event. 22 per cent of all marine families and 53 per cent of all genera - an estimated 76-84 per cent of all species. Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction - 66 million years ago . The Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction was the event that wiped out the dinosaurs. However, many other organisms perished including 16 per cent of all marine families and 47 per cent of all genera - an estimated 71-81 per cent of all species. The map above shows the countries with the highest number of threatened mammals in the world . There are more than 1.5 million known species in the world. Mr Brand said he did not believe climate change is likely to have much impact on the loss of wildlife as many species will evolve and adapt to cope. He said: 'My own prediction is that climate change will be deemed intolerable for humans long before it speeds up extinction rates, and even if radical steps have to be taken to head it off, they will be taken.'
highlights: Writer Stewart Brand says warnings that the world is facing a new mass extinction may lead to a fatalistic attitude that will do more harm than good .
  Instead he points to the recovery of species due to conservation efforts .
  He believes climate change is unlikely to have the feared impact on wildlife .
  He argues that more new species are being discovered than are being lost .
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