'Save the dung beetle!' Global science chief says biodiversity vital

FILE PHOTO: A dung beetle (Scarabaeus satyrus) is seen at the University of Lund in Sweden in this photo provided by Scanpix on January 25, 2013. REUTERS/Drago Prvulovic/Scanpix

OSLO (Reuters) - Governments should extend the protection of nature far beyond iconic creatures such as tigers and elephants to species including worms and beetles that are vital to human prosperity, the chair of a global scientific project said on Thursday.

"We are trying to ... put biodiversity and ecosystems on the same level - as an environmental, economic, social, security issue - as climate change," Robert Watson told Reuters in a telephone interview.