From the 10,000 known wild species that people collect for food to the firewood that one in three people need for cooking, nature is key to the livelihoods and survival of billions of people in developed and developing countries, says a new report of the UN. In the midst of a global food crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the study offers insights into how people can more sustainably use resources from ecosystems, drawing from more than 6,200 sources, some 200 contributing authors and indigenous owners, and of local knowledge, with an outline approved this week by 139 countries in the German city of Bonn. They found that about 50,000 wild species are known to be used for medicine, energy, food, building materials, recreation and indigenous cultural practices, on which 70% of the world’s poor directly depend. Pirarucu fish had almost disappeared from northern Brazil, but scientists at the Mamiraua Institute helped make the population more sustainable. Photo: Bernardo Oliveira/AFP/Getty Examples of harmful practices include unsustainable fishing and logging, which have left one in three fisheries overexploited worldwide and one in 10 tree species threatened with extinction. Plant groups such as cacti, orchids and cycads are particularly at risk, and unsustainable hunting has been identified as a threat to the survival of 1,341 species of wild mammals, particularly large species with low reproductive rates. Exploitation of the Earth’s natural resources is one of the five main drivers of biodiversity destruction, according to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (Ipbes), often referred to as “the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] for biodiversity”. The new report also looked at the future use of wild species and found that climate change, increasing demand and improving the efficiency of mining technologies are a major challenge. Dr Marla Emery, who co-chaired the assessment, said: “Half of humanity uses and benefits from the use of wild species. Their sustainability is essential for biodiversity conservation and human well-being. “The information we have gathered gives us great hope, as well as models for how we can have more sustainable use of the world’s wildlife.” The report, compiled over four years by 85 experts, highlights the importance of indigenous and local community knowledge to ensure the sustainable use of wildlife. The use of wild species is also an important source of income for millions of people. Before the pandemic, protected areas received 8 billion visits a year and generated $600 billion (£500 billion) a year. The legal trade in wild plants, algae and fungi is a multi-billion dollar industry. Dilys Roe, head of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s expert group on sustainable use and livelihoods, said the report’s major finding was the importance of wildlife to billions of people, particularly indigenous and local communities. “We’ve heard a lot about wildlife trade bans, wild meat bans and so on, and I think this assessment really makes it clear how important the sustainable use of wildlife is to human well-being,” he said. Live crocodiles for sale at a ‘wet market’ in Lagos, Nigeria. Wild life, or “bush meat,” is a common food source in much of west and central Africa. Photo: Akintunde Akinleye/EPA “This is not just a subsistence use for the locals. It also talks about commercial use and recognizes the revenue generated from wildlife as an important source of income, which is a really important incentive for conservation.” The sustainable use of biodiversity is one of the three pillars of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, which will hold the Cop15 meeting in Montreal in December to agree targets for halting biodiversity loss, including those related to the sustainable use of biodiversity. Roe said a major limitation of the report was the lack of data on species consumed and exploited by humans, but that the existing information included in the assessment showed that most of the time human practices were sustainable. “This is a slightly different story than what we’re usually told, which is usually a lot more negative,” he said. “But it does highlight the huge need for better information.” Writing about the assessment for the Guardian, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, said the report provides compelling evidence that humans are overexploiting wildlife and that governments must act at Cop15 to stop it. decline. “The goals of the last decade were not achieved. the next decade should be. Credible delivery plans will be required and we need a strong mechanism to monitor progress and hold them accountable,” he writes. “This is our chance to secure long-term agreements to protect our planet.” Find more coverage of Age of Extinction here and follow biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on Twitter for all the latest news and features
