Losses of land and changes in land use drive losses of biodiversity and ecosystem function; they can also contribute to disease in people, wildlife, domestic animals and plants (UNEP 2019a). Losing habitat through land loss or changes in land use can also lead to human- wildlife conflict (Martinez-Abrain, Jiménez and Oro 2019). We are not only losing biodiversity in terms of species and ecosystems: we are also losing genetic diversity both in the number and variety of animals and crops being cultivated (FAO 2015a) and those in the wild, leading to less genetic variation (McRae, Deinet and Freeman 2017).
In addition to land use change, other pressures on biodiversity (such as exploitation of species, climate change, pollution and invasive alien species) are leading to a decline in species worldwide. Illegal trade in wildlife, fish and forest products has been estimated to be worth between USD 90 billion and USD 270 billion per year (UNEP 2014; Stimson Center 2016; Stoett 2018). This illegal trade is leading to the loss of
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Figure 1.4 The steady demand for palm oil, found in everything from pizza dough to shampoo to lipstick, threatens the future of wild orangutans, because of the deforestation caused by palm oil plantations. In Borneo, where the vast majority of orangutans live, their population has declined by 80 per cent over the last 75 years Source: Gonchar 2017. Credit: National Geographic
