According to a study conducted by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, more than 80% of global land area is essential for human well-being and maintaining essential levels of biodiversity. It is endangered due to human activities.
The study was published on: Nature CommunicationIt reveals that approximately half of the world’s land area, excluding Antarctica, provides nearly all of nature’s services to humans at current levels, while preserving biodiversity of 27,000 species of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians. From this amount, only 18% are adequately protectedAccording to research.
“Biodiversity, climate, and sustainable development are inseparable,” said lead author Rachel Neugarten, a doctoral student at the Cornell Lab.
“We must also take into consideration nature’s contributions to human well-being“including drinking water, carbon storage, crop pollination, flood mitigation, coastal protection and more,” he added.
These findings herald serious problems to come; because 37% of the land provides services from nature They are also well suited to development through agriculture, renewable energy, oil and gas, mining or urban expansion..
Their development potential, together with the fact that few priority areas are currently protected, means that adequate protection of these areas will require creative solutions such as sustainable use and multifunctional landscape planning.
“We face enormous challenges,” said lead author Amanda Rodewald of the Cornell Lab Center for Bird Population Studies. “With the limited resources available to combat climate change, biodiversity loss, poverty and water insecurity, we must be strategic and find ways to address multiple problems simultaneously.”
“If carefully designed Developing renewable energies can be compatible with biodiversity conservation and ecosystem services for humans,” Neugarten said.
“Examples of this include grazing animals under wind farms or growing gardens with local pollinators under solar panels. However, there is a real risk that achieving renewable energy targets will conflict with nature conservation goals without careful planning,” the scientist assessed.
Reference work: DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43832-9
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