Worldwide Degradation of Land and Nature Threatens Prosperity and Wellbeing

More than 3.2bn people are already affected and the problem will worsen without rapid action, driving migration and conflict.

The world's prosperity and wellbeing are seriously being threatened by the degradation of land and nature.  Although there are opportunities to turn things around, fears of further deterioration in the coming decades must not be taken lightly.  That is concluded at the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), which serves under the United Nations flag.

For the last three years, around 550 researchers, including experts from the Planbureau voor de Leefomgeving (Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency), Leiden University, and the University of Twente, have been working on providing insight into the effects of land degradation and the corresponding loss of biodiversity.

The final results of the study have been ratified by representatives of 129 participating countries at the eight day global UN conference in the Colombian city of Medellin.  The insights into the effects of humankind on land, nature, food security, water and climate have been drawn in four assessments on Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe, and Central Asia and a global assessment on Land Degradation and restoration.

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