{"id":62586,"date":"2020-09-12T08:13:16","date_gmt":"2020-09-12T06:13:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/?p=62586"},"modified":"2020-09-12T08:15:54","modified_gmt":"2020-09-12T06:15:54","slug":"reversing-the-loss-of-biodiversity-researchers-present-ambitious-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/en\/environment\/reversing-the-loss-of-biodiversity-researchers-present-ambitious-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"Reversing the Loss of Biodiversity: Researchers Present Ambitious Plan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The rapid extinction of animal and plant species could be reversed by 2050 \u2013 by doing two things: Investing in better land-use management and transforming agriculture and the food industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new study by an international team of scientists, including Hermann Lotze-Campen, Alexander Popp, and Florian Humpen\u00f6der from the Potsdam-Institute for Climate Impact Research, lays out what it will take to reverse the current alarming trends of biodiversity loss \u2013 without endangering other important Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations General Assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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wwf.panda.org |Living Planet Report 2020<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the UN Biodiversity Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh in 2018, the international community agreed on reversing the global destruction of nature and biodiversity loss. Yet, the outlook remains grim: Over one million plants and animals species are currently threatened by extinction with many species disappearing because of human pressure on the planet,\u201d explains co-author Hermann Lotze-Campen, head of PIK\u2019s Climate Resilience Research Department. \u201cTo actually bend the curve of biodiversity loss by the year 2050, it will take an enormous effort.\u201d A concrete plan on how to get there has now for the first time been detailed in the latest issue of Nature<\/em> as part of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Living Planet Report<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Protecting land and transforming<\/strong>agriculture

<\/strong>Based on multiple models and scenarios, the researchers, led by David Lecl\u00e8re from the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, found that the global share of protected areas in the total land area would need to increase from 15.5 percent in 2010 to 40 percent in 2050. At the same time, degraded land would have to be restored, eventually reaching 8 percent of terrestrial areas. But bold conservation and restoration efforts alone are not enough to reverse the loss of biodiversity. As co-author Florian Humpen\u00f6der adds \u201ca sweeping overhaul of the food system must take place \u2013 including a significant reduction of food waste, a push for more sustainable intensification in agriculture, and a reduction of the share of animal products in our diets.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The findings are thus likely to inform to UN’s post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework and its vision of \u201cLiving in harmony with nature\u201d by 2050. \u201cBiodiversity still faces the overarching and interconnected threats of climate change, invasive species, and unsustainable hunting practices which have to be addressed,\u201d says co-author Alexander Popp, Head of the Land-use Management Group at PIK. \u201cBut land use and a reform of our food system are key conditions for an effective pathway to recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n