The biggest cause of the global biodiversity crisis is the conversion of natural forests and grassland to intensive agriculture and livestock, according to new research.
Fishing, logging, trade and hunting are the main drivers of exploitation of wildlife.
Climate change has attracted attention for its catastrophic consequences for the natural world, but it is only the fourth largest driver of biodiversity loss on land. The study shows that tackling global warming alone won't stop the decline of the world's flora and fauna.
Greenhouse gases have been the leading cause of the climate crisis for a long time, but just as important is understanding what is behind the rapid decline in species. A million species of animal and plant are at risk of extinction, while the world's ecosystems are changing away from their natural state, which may make them less likely to meet humans' needs.
Professor Purvis is a research lead at the Natural History Museum and co-author of a new study. He says that the crisis needs to be taken seriously. All of our supply chains begin in ecological systems. We all need these systems to continue to work. Economies can't grow by running nature down.
Climate change was ranked second in terms of destruction by the study's authors. Direct exploitation, mostly from fishing, comes first in the rankings of the oceans.
Climate change was only the fourth biggest driver of land-based environments, but the study's authors think it will move up the rankings as the crisis becomes more apparent over time.
There is a need for nature based solutions.
The study should change the way we understand how to stop the loss of flora and fauna. Dr. Pedro Jaureguiberry says that the study shows the importance of each driver in particular contexts. It is hoped that this will contribute to a moreholistic approach to reverse biodiversity loss.
The research shows that a moreholistic approach is needed to tackle the twin threats of climate and the biodiversity crisis. The current global agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change can focus too narrowly on one driver.
Climate change and biodiversity loss have been tackled by different policies that have not always considered the other problem. If the expansion of plantations into natural forest were to happen, it would be bad for nature.
Large-scale restoration of natural forests and effective protection of coastal wetlands are some of the nature positive solutions highlighted in the paper.
Professor Purvis wants "nature-positive" to get into the public consciousness as much as "net zero" has. If future generations are going to have the same birth right we had of a liveable, supportive planet, then all parts of society will have to transition as quickly as possible.
Pedro Jaureguiberry and his colleagues wrote about the drivers of recent global biodiversity loss. There is a book titled "Sci Adv.abm9982."
Journal information: Science Advances
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