Unsustainable Logging, Fishing, Hunting Are the Main Factors of Extinction Crisis

An unprecedented global extinction crisis is now threatening our planet. More than a million species are expected to go extinct in the next few decades, according to scientists.

A groundbreaking analysis found that one in five people worldwide depends on wild animals, plants, and fungi for their food and means of subsistence.

However, the report found that many undomesticated animals are not being collected responsibly, endangering global food security.

Plants and animals species extinction

(Photo : Roya Ann Miller/Unsplash)

Experts predicted that one million species of animals and plants could become extinct in the ensuing decades in 2019, and uncontrolled fishing, hunting, and logging are responsible for a large portion of this, as per BBC News.

The sustainable usage of wild species is now deemed essential for both people and nature in a new report by the same organization.

Additionally, more species may be pushed to the limit because of climate change and rising demand, endangering the availability of food.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) equivalent for climate scientists is the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

Their most recent review, which was accepted by 139 nations in Bonn, Germany, focused on how to conduct logging, fishing, and hunting more sustainably without endangering biodiversity and food security.

It was discovered that 50,000 species of wild animals, plants, and fungi serve as a source of food, medicine, fuel, employment, and other necessities for billions of people worldwide.

Approximately one-third of oceanic wild fish are overfished, unsustainable logging threatens over than 10% of wild trees, and unsustainable hunting has driven more than 1,300 mammals to extinction, according to the assessment.

Also Read: Urban Expansion May Spell Extinction to More than 850 Species

Things can lessen plant and animals species extinction

The BBC News talked with Cristiana Paşca Palmer, executive secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, was interviewed about international efforts to stop the destruction of nature, and what individuals can do. 

According to Palmer, people should recognize the effects of biodiversity loss as people can't afford to lose the diversity of plant and animal life on earth.

Consider your food choices. The health of the plant is affected by what you eat. Not everyone should become a vegetarian, Ms. Paşca Palmer asserted.

However, it should be recognized that our meat consumption contributes to climate change, which in turn can affect habitat and ecosystems.

Consider your purchases. More and more, we can determine where something came from, such as the wood used to build furniture or the food we purchase at the grocery store.

Consider both small and charismatic animals and plants.

She argued that if we lose them, we also lose their contribution to the larger system. Additionally, as a result of climate change, we will gradually notice a change in how well ecosystems function.

And lastly, allow everyone to speak.

Taking into account the opinions of the financial industry, indigenous people, youth, and civil society, she claimed that attempts to address the loss of nature entail a broad consultative process that is inclusive and transparent.

Importance of decreasing plant and animals species extinction

The environment we live in gradually disintegrates as a species goes extinct. The effects are severe, not only for those areas and those species but also for all of us, as per Biological Diversity.

These losses include both spiritual and cultural ones, as well as actual consequential losses like crop pollination as well as water purification.

People still have strong emotional ties to nature, despite the fact that these ties are frequently covered up by the clamor and bustle of modern life.

Our cultures' histories, mythologies, languages, and worldviews have all been influenced by nature and its creatures. Each time a species goes extinct, our home becomes a colder and more desolate place for us and future generations.

It is entirely our fault that there is an extinction crisis right now.

Nature has been pushed to the limit by more than a century of habitat destruction, pollution, the spread of exotic species, excessive wild harvesting, climate change, population growth, and other human activities.

Leadership, particularly from the United States, along with audacious, gallant, far-reaching initiatives that tackle this emergency at its core are expected to address the extinction crisis.

Related Article: Invasive Species May Beat Climate Change to Extinction of Endangered Plants