Biodiversity in peril

Biodiversity in peril

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Biodiversity in peril

Researchers from New York’s City University have found that regions of the world with intensive agriculture and dense human settlement, such as the United States and Europe, experience some of the highest levels of threats to both human water security and biodiversity. Meanwhile, countries like China are realising the importance of conserving biodiversity and are taking pro-active measures.

Nearly 80 per cent of the world’s population – 4.8 billion people as calculated in 2000 – live in areas experiencing a high level of threats to human water security or biodiversity. Water-management strategies aimed at improving human water security, such as building dams to provide access to water-starved regions, often detrimentally affects wildlife that also depends on freshwater resources, such as migrating fish.