Billions of people rely on about 50,000 wild species for food, medicine, and income, according to a new scientific report conducted by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. The report also highlighted how humans must make significant changes to policies regarding hunting and other activities to preserve these species.
85 experts from 33 countries prepared the report, which is the most diverse look yet at the pathways for using wild species in ways that do not cause the long-term decline of those resources. The report uses thousands of scientific studies and other references, including a body of Indigenous and local knowledge. Indigenous and low-income communities are often most affected by the overuse of wild species.
“Half of humanity benefits from and makes use of wild species, and often without even knowing that they’re doing so,” said Marla R. Emery, one of the co-chairs of the evaluation.
The report builds on a 2019 report from the same group that concluded that humans altered the natural world so drastically that one million plant and animal species were at risk of extinction. A year later, another report declared that nations had made little progress on international movements to tackle the biodiversity crisis.
However, one-third of wild species that humans use are listed as threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature-experienced stable or increasing population despite human use, according to one study cited in the report. This means that “the use of these specific species is not yet directly contributing to their extinction, as far as we can tell,” says Sophie Marsh, a biodiversity master’s student at the University College London and lead author of a study on threatened species.
The report said indigenous and local knowledge is crucial in learning some of the best practices for sustainable use, but traditionally it has been underused. Indigenous communities have long incorporated sustainable uses of wild species in their cultural practices.
The report was referring to practices like those used in the hills of the Cordillera region of Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines. “The entire community mobilizes to protect the forest,” said Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, an Indigenous rights activist who grew up in that region. The practice is called Batangan, a resource management system that involves a shared sense of responsibility for monitoring the diversity of the forests and planting new trees as the other ones grow old.
It’s not just about the trees, “it’s about the water, the plants and the animals, the microorganisms,” Ms. Tauli-Corpuz said. Another researcher said, “If wildlife disappears, our culture is at risk, our lifestyle and our livelihood is at risk.”
85 experts from 33 countries prepared the report, which is the most diverse look yet at the pathways for using wild species in ways that do not cause the long-term decline of those resources. The report uses thousands of scientific studies and other references, including a body of Indigenous and local knowledge. Indigenous and low-income communities are often most affected by the overuse of wild species.
“Half of humanity benefits from and makes use of wild species, and often without even knowing that they’re doing so,” said Marla R. Emery, one of the co-chairs of the evaluation.
The report builds on a 2019 report from the same group that concluded that humans altered the natural world so drastically that one million plant and animal species were at risk of extinction. A year later, another report declared that nations had made little progress on international movements to tackle the biodiversity crisis.
However, one-third of wild species that humans use are listed as threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature-experienced stable or increasing population despite human use, according to one study cited in the report. This means that “the use of these specific species is not yet directly contributing to their extinction, as far as we can tell,” says Sophie Marsh, a biodiversity master’s student at the University College London and lead author of a study on threatened species.
The report said indigenous and local knowledge is crucial in learning some of the best practices for sustainable use, but traditionally it has been underused. Indigenous communities have long incorporated sustainable uses of wild species in their cultural practices.
The report was referring to practices like those used in the hills of the Cordillera region of Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines. “The entire community mobilizes to protect the forest,” said Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, an Indigenous rights activist who grew up in that region. The practice is called Batangan, a resource management system that involves a shared sense of responsibility for monitoring the diversity of the forests and planting new trees as the other ones grow old.
It’s not just about the trees, “it’s about the water, the plants and the animals, the microorganisms,” Ms. Tauli-Corpuz said. Another researcher said, “If wildlife disappears, our culture is at risk, our lifestyle and our livelihood is at risk.”
