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[Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>]

Food supply under threat due to biodiversity loss across globe: UN report -
CNN
https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/22/health/food-biodiversity-report-intl/index.html

'Extinction crisis' threatening global food supply, UN report warns

By James Griffiths, CNN

Updated 9:31 AM ET, Fri February 22, 2019

(CNN)A drop in global biodiversity is putting our ability to produce food
at risk, a new United Nations report warns.
According to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization
<http://www.fao.org/state-of-biodiversity-for-food-agriculture/en>,
biodiversity in food and agriculture "is indispensable to food security and
sustainable development."
However, in recent years biodiversity at the genetic, species and ecosystem
levels have all been in decline, reducing our overall food and agriculture
systems' ability to respond to shocks and stresses such as climate change.
[image: Five things you can do to protect our insects from population
collapse]
<https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/13/opinions/protect-insects-five-things-intl/index.html>
Five things you can do to protect our insects from population collapse
<https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/13/opinions/protect-insects-five-things-intl/index.html>
"Many key components of biodiversity for food and agriculture at genetic,
species and ecosystem levels are in decline," the report said. "The
proportion of livestock breeds at risk of extinction is increasing.
Overall, the diversity of crops present in farmers' fields has declined and
threats to crop diversity are increasing."
At the species level, many of those serving vital functions such as
pollination or pest management are in decline "as a consequence of the
destruction and degradation of habitats, overexploitation, pollution and
other threats."
A report out earlier this month in the journal Biological Conservation
warned more than 40% of insect species could become extinct in the next few
decades -- an event it said could have "catastrophic" effects on the planet
<https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/11/health/insect-decline-study-intl/index.html>.

Even larger animals are at risk, with more than 25% of local livestock
breeds at risk of extinction,. Only 7% are deemed to be at no risk
whatsoever, with the future for most other livestock breeds unclear.
The drop in biodiversity is being caused by a number of major global
trends, the report said, including climate change, international markets
and demography.
"These are giving rise to other challenges such as land-use change,
pollution, overuse, overharvesting and the proliferation of invasive
species," it said. "Interactions between these trends can often exacerbate
their effects."