The biodiversity of all the regions of the world continues on a dangerous decline that threatens human well-being, experts have warned when presenting four reports sponsored by the United Nations.
The studies, presented during the 6th Plenary Session of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), show an increase in the loss of species and the degradation of ecosystems.
The panorama is caused by deforestation, the misuse of land, pollution and climate change, scientists said.
"Unfortunately, biodiversity continues to be lost across all regions. The time to take action is now," the president of the IPBES, Sir Robert Watson, said.
The four IPBES studies - the work of 550 experts from more than 100 countries over three years in the Americas, Asia, the Pacific, Africa, Europe, conclude that in all regions, biological diversity is "being eroded, reduced and lost" due to common "pressures" like habitat loss, over-exploitation and the unsustainable use of natural resources.
Added to that is the contamination of air, land and water, and the spread of invasive species that threaten nature, ever more fragile with the onset of climate change.
In the Americas, where the richness of biological diversity plays a fundamental role in the economy, sustainable development goals are endangered by increased consumption.
This is putting more pressure on biodiversity, since this region has 40 per cent of the global capacity of nature to contribute to human well-being, the report says.
"We're using up those benefits at a much faster rate than nature can replace them. We're causing a fourth of humanity's impact on nature and the planet," IPBES co-president of the Americas, Jake Rice, said.
For Rice, 50 per cent of the population of the Americas have problems of water security, while 95 per cent of pasture land on the prairies has been "occupied by man."
