RAWALPINDI, May 21: International Day for Biological Diversity is being observed on Thursday to raise awareness of the importance of biodiversity at a time when over 60 per cent of ecosystem services were being degraded as a result of human activity.

One of the most important challenges facing mankind today is to feed a growing population in an increasingly urbanised world confronted with the combined impacts of climate change and the unprecedented loss of biodiversity.

During the past 50 years, humans have altered ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any other period in human history. Indeed, more land was converted to cropland during the last 50 years than in the previous two centuries. These transformations have an impact on ecosystems and the ecosystem services upon which all life relies, according to United Nations.

This year’s theme on “Biodiversity and Agriculture” highlights the importance of sustainable agriculture not only to preserve biodiversity, but also to feed the world, maintain sustainable agricultural livelihoods and enhance human well- being in the twenty-first century.

According to the FAO, about 7,000 species of plants have been cultivated since humans first began farming. However, today, only 30 crops provide an estimated 90 per cent of the world population’s dietary energy requirements, with wheat, rice and maize alone providing about half the dietary energy consumed globally.

Of the estimated 15,000 species of mammals and birds, only some 30 to 40 have been domesticated for food production and less than 14 species — including cattle, goats, sheep, buffaloes and chickens — account for 90 per cent of global livestock production. In recent decades there has been an alarming genetic erosion within these species.

Furthermore, as biodiversity used in food and agriculture declines, the food supply becomes more vulnerable and unsustainable. Agriculture becomes less able to adapt to environmental challenges, such as climate change or water scarcity, FAO says in a statement coinciding with the global biodiversity conference being held in Bonn.

The Ministry of Environment says the ecological trend of greatest concern in Pakistan today is the continuing loss, fragmentation and degradation of natural and modified habitats: the forest area, already greatly reduced and fragmented, is suffering further loss and degradation; most rangelands are suffering further degradation; and many freshwater and marine ecosystems have already been lost or are threatened with further destruction.

Also of great concern in Pakistan today is the continuing decline in many native species of animals and plants; some species are already extinct, many are internationally threatened, and more still are of national concern. The degradation of agro- ecosystems and the accelerating loss of domesticated genetic diversity are also of grave concern in Pakistan.

Agriculture and agro-biodiversity sustain human life. Today, more than a decade after the 1996 World Food Summit, there are 820 million more hungry people around the globe than there were in 1996. “If we are to keep the promise of the summit, 31 million people must be removed from undernourishment every year until 2015,” FAO says.

At present the number is climbing at a rate of about four million people per year.

FAO report says the agricultural sector is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, second only to the energy sector. Conversely, climate change affects agriculture throughout the world. According to the fourth assessment report of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, crop yield losses as a result of climate change will be more severe in the tropics than in temperate regions.

Livestock and crops emit carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide making agriculture a major source of greenhouse gases. Some 80 per cent of these emissions come from developing countries. Agriculture is also a major cause of deforestation according to reports of the UN Framework on Climate Change.

Nitrous oxide emissions from soils, because of the use of fertilisers and manures and methane from livestock production account for a third of non-carbon dioxide emissions. Land use change, compounded by agriculture, also reduces carbon sequestration.

Agricultural output has increased over 160 per cent since the 1960s, while the world’s population has more than doubled. Farmers and agricultural producers have done a great job of meeting the challenge of feeding the world, reducing poverty and in many cases contributing to sustaining biodiversity. However, tradeoffs in food production have degraded other ecosystem services.

The report says if food production is to keep pace with population growth, without degrading the ecosystem services necessary to sustain it, changes must now ensure for the widespread adoption and development of sustainable agricultural practices. UN Environment Programme (UNEP), in its report, says climate change is projected to become a major driver of biodiversity loss as well as a serious challenge to agriculture, whose response, to adapt, will draw upon the genetic diversity of crops and livestock and the services provided by other components of agricultural biodiversity. Against the backdrop of a declining natural resource base and environmental change, food production in the coming decades will need to increase considerably to feed a growing population and rising expectations.

According to a number of recent reports, bio-fuels have the potential to contribute to an increase food grain prices, increased competition for land and water, as well as deforestation and destruction of agro-biodiversity. Socially and environmentally relevant strategies and policies on bio-fuels are therefore needed for developing countries.