LAGOS, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – Africa is bearing a disproportionate burden of global biodiversity loss, threatening food security, livelihoods, clean water and climate resilience across the continent, the United Nations has warned.
The Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Astrid Schomaker, disclosed this during a scientific and policy meeting in Nairobi.
Schomaker said biodiversity loss was not an abstract environmental problem for Africans, particularly rural communities, farmers, fishermen and people dependent on forests and other natural resources.
She said the crisis was already evident in declining harvests, dwindling fish stocks, degraded soils, polluted water sources and the loss of medicinal plants.
Biodiversity refers to the variety of plants, animals and microorganisms within ecosystems and their contribution to human survival and wellbeing.
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It supports agriculture, fisheries, medicine, clean water, soil fertility, climate regulation and protection against environmental disasters.
Africa is home to about 25 per cent of the world’s biodiversity, including globally significant forests, wetlands, grasslands, coastal ecosystems and wildlife habitats.
However, the continent has lost an estimated 24 per cent of its species since the pre-industrial period, according to a recent scientific study.
The development has raised concerns because millions of Africans depend directly on agriculture, fisheries, forestry, tourism and other nature-based activities for their livelihoods.
Schomaker identified climate change as the biggest driver of biodiversity loss, warning that Africa remained particularly vulnerable to climate-related shocks.
She said rising temperatures, droughts, flooding, desertification and changing rainfall patterns were increasingly disrupting ecosystems and undermining agricultural productivity across the continent.
The UN official also identified invasive species, pollution, deforestation and overexploitation of land and water resources as major threats to Africa’s biodiversity.
She said the pressures continued to deplete resources relied upon by rural and coastal communities for food, income, clean water and economic stability.
The UN Environment Programme had earlier warned that global spending on activities that destroy nature remained substantially higher than investments in protecting and restoring ecosystems.
According to the UN, the world spends about 30 times more on activities that destroy nature than on protecting it.
Africa is particularly disadvantaged, as many governments lack adequate financial and technological resources to reverse land degradation and protect threatened ecosystems.
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The continent also contributes comparatively little to global greenhouse gas emissions but bears a significant share of the consequences of climate change and environmental degradation.
Experts have warned that declining biodiversity could worsen hunger, poverty, migration, conflict and unemployment across Africa if governments fail to implement urgent corrective measures.
They have therefore called on African governments to integrate biodiversity protection into agriculture, infrastructure, energy, mining, trade and national development planning.
They also stressed the need to mobilise adequate funding to close Africa’s biodiversity financing gap and support conservation, restoration and sustainable resource management.
Schomaker said available scientific evidence had provided a clear understanding of the biodiversity crisis confronting Africa and the rest of the world.
Experts urged African countries to strengthen environmental laws, improve enforcement, invest in scientific research and support communities managing forests, wetlands, wildlife and coastal resources.
(NAN)