This map is easy to read - it says the environment is screwed

The Earth is not a limitless resource.

National leaders from all over the world will be meeting in Mexico for the Convention of Biological Diversity this week.

The convention, of which there are 196 signatories, was ratified in 1992 and created in order for nations to develop strategies for sustainable development.

However, despite the work they’ve been doing over a period of 24 years, over half of the world’s eco-regions are classed as at very high risk.

What does this mean?

Researchers looked at how fast habitats were being converted to human-use, as opposed to given protection, within 825 one-mile regions containing unique animal and plant specimens across the world.

Their findings confirmed that over half of the planet’s land has been converted. This means that the remaining land is 25 times more likely to be converted, rather than protected, making it very high risk.

Here is a map, to illustrate the risk:

Picture: WCS

Forty-one out of 45 nations looked at have been identified as being in crisis - humans have converted more than 10 per cent of the habitat in twenty years.

One of the authors of the study, Dr Oscar Venter of the University of Northern British Colombia, said:

It is now time political leaders recognize that simply chasing protected area targets while ignoring the impacts of rampant habitat loss is not a good solution for much of the world's imperiled species.

We need to specifically target protected areas to places where habitats are disappearing, before it is too late.

HT EurekAlert!

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