The Food and Agriculture
Organization on Friday warned that the biodiversity that
underpins our food systems is disappearing.
The Rome-based UN agency said that, once lost, these species
that support our food systems and sustain the people who grow
and provide our food cannot be recovered.
Experts says biodiversity loss is a big problem, as it means
humankind has fewer resources to adapt to future strains on food
systems, which are set to increase because of climate change.
In a report entitled the State of the World's Biodiversity,
the FAO said that 24% of nearly 4,000 wild food species - mainly
plants, fish and mammals - are decreasing in abundance.
It reported decreasing plant diversity in farmers' fields,
rising numbers of livestock breeds at risk of extinction and
increases in the proportion of overfished fish stocks.
Of some 6,000 plant species cultivated for food, fewer than
200 contribute substantially to global food output, and only
nine account for 66% of total crop production, it said.
"We need to use biodiversity in a sustainable way, so that we
can better respond to rising climate change challenges and
produce food in a way that doesn't harm our environment," said
FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva.
"Less biodiversity means that plants and animals are more
vulnerable to pests and diseases.
"Compounded by our reliance on fewer and fewer species to
feed ourselves, the increasing loss of biodiversity for food and
agriculture puts food security and nutrition at risk".
The report said that main causes of biodiversity loss are
changes in land and water use and management, followed by
pollution, overexploitation and overharvesting, climate change,
population growth and urbanization.
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