Photo taken on October 16, 2010 during an aerial survey mission by Greenpeace over Sumatra island shows a paper and pulpwood logging concession near the Sungai Sembilang National Park in South Sumatra province. According to the global environmental campaign group, massive concessions of paper and pulpwood companies are operating in the Island’s last remaining peatland forest and the habitat of the endangered Sumatran tiger. The destruction of rainforests and peatlands is the major reason Indonesia is considered the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, blamed for global warming (Photo by ROMEO GACAD / AFP)
By LiCAS.news reporter, Philippines
May 14 2024
JONG-Jin Kim, Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), emphasized that this ongoing erosion of biodiversity is an issue that demands immediate attention.
Recent reports from the FAO highlight an increase in food insecurity and the emergence of ‘hunger hotspots’ across Asia and the Pacific.
While conflicts and climate crises are contributing factors, the diminishing biodiversity in natural forests is equally concerning.
The FAO’s latest Forest Sector outlook reveals that biodiversity and ecosystem resilience are declining, undermining forests’ ability to provide services such as water and soil protection, climate regulation, and the supply of wood, food, and medicines.
“The slow but steady erosion of our region’s biodiversity is an equal or even greater threat to our future food security,” said Kim. “Reversing this trend must be a priority for all countries in the region now and in the next decade to ensure our survival, especially in the face of dangerous climate change.”
The Asia-Pacific region is home to half of the world’s undernourished population, with nearly 45 percent of people unable to afford a sustainable and healthy diet.
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