Biodiversity crucial for food systems under threat-FAO

(ANSA) - Rome, February 22 - 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.