This huge variety of life allows food to be produced in different environments and helps provide people with diverse and balanced diets.
Beyond the species we eat, a vast range of others are also essential to food production – ranging from pollinators that enable crop reproduction to microorganisms that enrich soils.
If we don’t maintain this rich biodiversity, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of preventing hunger by 2030 is unlikely to be achieved.
Relying on just one variety means that the banana industry is extremely vulnerable to outbreaks of disease. So, news that the Cavendish is no longer resistant to the destructive Panama disease has caused shockwaves. Millions of people around the world depend on bananas for a significant part of their calory intake.
60% of coffee varieties are in danger of extinction due to climate change, disease and deforestation. This includes the Arabica variety – the one most coffee drinkers have on a daily basis. If the extinctions were to happen, global coffee markets would be put at significant risk, affecting the livelihoods of many smallholder farmers.
Adaptable and highly productive, the potato has saved millions from hunger. Yet, weather extremes caused by climate change could drive 13 wild potato species to extinction by 2055. Such a loss could be catastrophic. For example, in 2007 an unexpected frost wiped out the entire potato harvest in Peru’s Huancavelica region, except for one variety: Yana manua. This single variety came between these families and extreme hunger.
Strawberries in the USA are at risk due to increasing temperatures as a result of climate change. A study by the International Society for Horticultural Science has shown that the hotter-than-normal temperatures are delaying their flowering - a trend that could be a sign of a more permanent decrease in strawberry production.
Cacao - the essential ingredient for chocolate - can only grow in a specific set of conditions, making it incredibly sensitive to things like temperature change. So it’s worrying that climate change is causing increasingly volatile temperatures in many regions where the crop is grown. A study by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) shows that many farmers will begin to see a substantial decrease in cacoa production by 2030.
The way we live and the food we eat is driving destruction at a rate faster than nature can recover. Everyone can do something to help.
Do something about itAlmost all of our economic activity relies on nature. If we don’t tackle the nature loss crisis, we risk huge disruption to the world’s economies and harm to the lives and livelihoods of many millions.
Learn moreAlmost all aspects of human health depend on a thriving natural world. But if biodiversity loss continues at the current rate, the health and well-being of many will only get worse.
Learn moreA wide variety of thinkers and practitioners from around the world to share their unique views on how, as a global community, we could build a resilient and healthy planet for people and nature in a post COVID-19 world.
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