22 May 2018: In conjunction with the International Day for Biological Diversity, four academic reports offered perspectives on the past, present and future of biological diversity on Earth. Each of the articles delineates the links between human development and species richness and presents different methodologies for measurement and analysis.

A report by the Wildlife Conservation Society titled, ‘From Bottleneck to Breakthough: Urbanization and the Future of Biodiversity Conservation,’ argues that global population could stabilize between six and eight billion people, allowing for a “rewilding” of the world. It paints a future where most people live above the poverty line in cities interconnected by a tech-driven market economy. The article, published in BioScience, makes a case for focusing on sustainable urban development. [Publication: From Bottleneck to Breakthough: Urbanization and the Future of Biodiversity Conservation] [UNEP Press Release]

A second article, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, estimates the biomass on Earth from each of the major taxonomic groups. The report titled, ‘The Biomass Distribution on Earth,’ concludes that major innovations, such as the domestication of livestock, adoption of an agricultural lifestyle, and the Industrial Revolution, “have increased the human population dramatically, with radical ecological effects.” An analysis by The Guardian points out that since man has come into play, five sixths of the world’s wild mammals are no longer, while after centuries of whaling, only a fifth of marine mammals in the oceans remain. [Publication: The Biomass Distribution on Earth] [Analysis by The Guardian]

A third report, published by the European Union, discusses the value and status of biodiversity in Asia. Titled ‘Larger than Tigers,’ the report highlights Asia’s natural capital and provides data to inform strategic approaches to stopping environmental degradation and biodiversity loss in the region. It points out that the problem of biodiversity loss “extends far beyond the survival of iconic animals such as tigers, orangutans, elephants or rhinos,” and makes a case for preserving species, large and small, along with their ecosystems. [Publication: Larger than Tigers]

Finally, Bioversity International of the CGIAR Consortium released its 2017 Annual Report under the sub-heading, ‘Agricultural Biodiversity Nourishes People and Sustains the Planet.’ The report profiles “scientific evidence, management practices and policy options that use and safeguard agricultural and tree biodiversity to attain sustainable global food and nutrition security.” It discusses Bioversity’s progress towards, for instance, increasing the nutritional value of foods, fighting plant disease and pests, and safeguarding biodiversity through community interventions and seedbanks. The publication also discusses efforts to measure agro-biodiversity. [Publication: Annual Report 2017]

Celebrations of the International Day for Biological Diversity Day are organized by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). This year, the Day convened under the theme, ‘Celebrating 25 Years of Action for Biodiversity,’ to commemorate the 25th anniversary of when the CBD entered into force. [International Day for Biological Diversity Website]