Changes in farming urgent to rescue biodiversity
Over 360 scientists from 42 countries - led by the University of Göttingen and Westlake University China - call for transition of food production systems to agroecological principles. Humans depend on farming for their very survival but this activity takes up more than one third of the world's landmass and endangers 62% of all threatened species globally. However, agricultural landscapes can support, rather than damage, biodiversity, but only through a global transition to agroecological production. An international team of over 360 scientists from 42 countries, led by the University of Göttingen and Westlake University in China, argue that agroecological principles should be integrated in the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, which aims to reduce threats to biodiversity and will be decided at the 15th Convention of the Parties (COP15) meeting in China. Their Correspondence article was published in Nature Ecology & Evolution. Reversing the trend in species decline is essential for the benefit of both people and the planet, but it will require coordinated actions and sustainable agriculture. Intensive farming relying on excessive pesticides and fertiliser has negative effects on biodiversity.
