The Environmental Food Crisis

IMPACTS ON BIODIVERSITY AND ECOSYSTEMS FROM CONVENTIONAL EXPANSION OF FOOD PRODUCTION

The Earth’s natural environment provides the platform upon which all life is based. Eco- systems provide regulating as well as supporting services that are essential for agriculture and fisheries. These include provisioning of food, fibre and water; regulating services such as air, water and climate regulation, pollination and pest control; and providing re- silience against natural disasters and hazards. Despite its crucial role in providing food, agriculture remains the largest driver of genetic erosion, species loss and conversion of natural habitats. Globally, over 4,000 assessed plant and animal species are threatened by agricultural intensification, and the number is still rising. Over 1,000 (87%) of a total of 1,226 threatened bird species are impacted by agriculture. Overfishing and destructive fishing methods along with eutrophication caused by high nutrient run-off from agricul- tural areas are among the major threats to inland and marine fisheries. If increase in food production is to be met only by indiscriminate expansion of cropland area, intensification of yields using artificial fertilizers and pesticides and by increasing harvest beyond sustainable levels, we may further erode the platform upon which food production is based. Finding alternatives to the use of cereal in animal feed, recycling of waste for feed and energy recovery, and reducing the use of croplands for non-food purposes will not only increase food energy efficiency in production, but will also greatly help to preserve biodiversity and other natural resources, and the human communities and cultures that they support.

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