The Loss of Biodiversity and Its Negative Effects

Animal, plant and marine biodiversity comprise the "natural capital" that keeps our ecosystems functional. Healthy ecosystems allow us to survive, get enough food to eat, and make a living. But the world is experiencing a dramatic loss of biodiversity.Although the pace of deforestation has slowed in globally since the 1990s, it remains high with annual deforestation of about 13 million hectares. The world has also lost about 40% of warm water coral reefs since the 1980s. The Living Planet Index, which monitors selected species populations, has declined by 30% globally, and by almost 60% in developing countries in the tropics, which account for the greatest share of global biodiversity.
The loss of biodiversity has negative effects on livelihoods, clean water supply, food security and resilience to environmental disasters. It has consequences for 75% of the world’s poor—some 870 million people—who live in rural areas and rely on ecosystems and the goods they produce to make a living. Water provision is one of the most vital ecosystem services that biodiversity can help ensure, yet about 2.7 billion people experience severe water scarcity for at least one month per year. The loss of coral reefs has significant negative consequences for 350 million people living in coastal areas by reducing coastal protection and habitat for fish. Deforestation and land conversion contribute about 30% of global greenhouse emissions, and the loss of diversity reduces the resilience of ecosystems to disturbances. Environmental degradation and disasters—manifested by floods, erosion and sedimentation—threaten large-scale infrastructure investments in hydropower, irrigation or coastal defenses.