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The Earth’s natural environment provides the platform upon which all life is based. Eco-

systems provide regulating as well as supporting services that are essential for agriculture

and fisheries. These include provisioning of food, fibre and water; regulating services

such as air, water and climate regulation, pollination and pest control; and providing re-

silience against natural disasters and hazards. Despite its crucial role in providing food,

agriculture remains the largest driver of genetic erosion, species loss and conversion of

natural habitats. Globally, over 4,000 assessed plant and animal species are threatened

by agricultural intensification, and the number is still rising. Over 1,000 (87%) of a total

of 1,226 threatened bird species are impacted by agriculture. Overfishing and destructive

fishing methods along with eutrophication caused by high nutrient run-off from agricul-

tural areas are among the major threats to inland and marine fisheries.

If increase in food production is to be met only by indiscriminate expansion of cropland

area, intensification of yields using artificial fertilizers and pesticides and by increasing

harvest beyond sustainable levels, we may further erode the platform upon which food

production is based. Finding alternatives to the use of cereal in animal feed, recycling

of waste for feed and energy recovery, and reducing the use of croplands for non-food

purposes will not only increase food energy efficiency in production, but will also greatly

help to preserve biodiversity and other natural resources, and the human communities

and cultures that they support.

IMPACTS ON BIODIVERSITY

AND ECOSYSTEMS FROM

CONVENTIONAL EXPANSION OF

FOOD PRODUCTION