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75

With current scenarios from the CBD, all regions of the world

will continue to experience loss in biodiversity, with Africa,

followed by Latin America and the Caribbean, experiencing

the highest losses as a result of major land use changes (es-

pecially in increases in pastures and biofuel production) com-

bined with increasing land degradation. Large areas of Africa

are projected to lose more than 25% of mean species abun-

dance by 2050 (UNEP, 2007). According to FAO’s Global Per-

spective Unit (2008), at present 228 million ha of arable land

are in use in Sub-Saharan Africa. Potentially, this area can be

increased to over 1 billion ha of suitable land for rainfed crops

in Africa by 2030. Likewise, in South America similar sce-

narios project the present 208 million ha in agricultural use

to be increased to over 1 billion ha by 2030 at the expense of

natural ecosystems. These expansions will have huge costs to

biodiversity.