50K wild species meet needs of billions worldwide, but sustainability unaddressed: Report

Humans have have always been dependent on resources from the nature and other inhabitants of our biodiversity From food energy materials medicine to recreation and inspiration billions of people from developed and developing nations benefit daily from the wild species too in our environmentHowever the accelerating global biodiversity crisis with a million species of plants and animals facing extinction threatens these contributions to people A new report by the Intergovernmental SciencePolicy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services IPBES on Friday offered insights analysis and tools to establish more sustainable use of wild species of plants animals fungi and algae around the worldSustainable use is when biodiversity and ecosystem functioning are maintained while contributing to human wellbeingThe IPBES Assessment Report on the Sustainable Use of Wild Species is the result of four years of work by 85 leading experts from the natural and social sciences and holders of indigenous and local knowledge as well as 200 contributing authors drawing on more than 6200 sourcesThe summary of the report was approved this week by representatives of the 139 member states of IPBES in Bonn in GermanyWith about 50000 wild species used through different practices including more than 10000 wild species harvested directly for human food rural people in developing countries are most at risk from unsustainable use with lack of complementary alternatives often forcing them to further exploit wild species already at risk said JeanMarc Fromentin France who cochaired the assessment with Marla R Emery USANorway and John Donaldson South AfricaSeventy per cent of the worlds poor are directly dependent on wild species One in five people rely on wild plants algae and fungi for their food and income 24 billion rely on fuel wood for cooking and about 90 per cent of the 120 million people working in capture fisheries are supported by smallscale fishing said EmeryBut the regular use of wild species is extremely important not only in the Global South From the fish that we eat to medicines cosmetics decoration and recreation wild species use is much more prevalent than most people realiseThe use of wild species is an important source of income for millions of people worldwideAlso read Build framework for ocean tourism to be sustainable resilient for local communities ReportWild tree species account for two thirds of global industrial roundwood trade in wild plants algae and fungi is a billiondollar industry and even nonextractive uses of wild species are big businessTourism based on observing wild species is one of the main reasons that prior to the Covid19 pandemic protected areas globally received eight billion visitors and generated 600 billion every yearThe report identifies five broad categories of practices in the use of wild species fishing gathering logging terrestrial animal harvesting including hunting and nonextractive practices such as observingFor each practice it then examines specific causes such as for food and feed materials medicine energy recreation ceremony learning and decoration providing a detailed analysis of the trends in each over the past 20 yearsIn most cases use of wild species has increased but sustainability of use has varied such as in gathering for medicine and logging for materials and energySpeaking specifically about fishing as an example Fromentin said Recent global estimates confirm that about 34 per cent of marine wild fish stocks are overfished and 66 per cent are fished within biologically sustainable levels but within this global picture there are significant local and contextual variationsCountries with robust fisheries management have seen stocks increasing in abundance The Atlantic bluefin tuna population for instance has been rebuilt and is now fished within sustainable levelsFor countries and regions with low intensity fisheries management measures however the status of stocks is often poorly known but generally believed to be below the abundance that would maximise sustainable food productionMany smallscale fisheries are unsustainable or only partially sustainable especially in Africa for both inland and marine fisheries and in Asia Latin America and Europe for coastal fisheriesIllegal use and illegal trade in wild species are also addressed in the report as this occurs across all of the practices and often leads to unsustainable useThe authors find that illegal trade in wild species represents the third largest class of all illegal trade with estimated annual values of up to 199 billionTimber and fish make up the largest volumes and value of illegal trade in wild speciesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute 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