Hundreds of Millions of Hectares, Nearly the Size of Brazil, Face Degradation Threat
Published on by Markus Pahlow, University of Canterbury - Senior Lecturer
Hundreds of Millions of Hectares, Nearly the Size of Brazil, Face Degradation Threat
Davos / Switzerland, 24 January 2014
Up to 849 million hectares of natural land - nearly the size of Brazil - may be degraded by 2050 should current trends of unsustainable land use continue, warns a report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The need to feed a growing number of people globally has led to more land being converted to cropland at the expense of the world's savannah, grassland and forests.
This has resulted in widespread environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity, affecting an estimated 23 per cent of global soil.
Agriculture currently consumes more than 30 per cent of the world's land area, and cropland covers around 10 per cent of global land.
Between 1961 and 2007, cropland expanded by 11 per cent, a trend that continues to grow.
The report, entitled Assessing Global Land Use: Balancing Consumption with Sustainable Supply, was produced by the International Resource Panel: a consortium of 27 internationally renowned resource scientists, 33 national governments and other groups, hosted by UNEP.
more information:
http://www.unep.org/newscentre/Default.aspx?DocumentID=2758&ArticleID=10697&l=en
Download Full Report: Assessing Global Land Use: Balancing Consumption with Sustainable Supply
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