Asia-Pacific’s alarming loss of biodiversity

In recent months, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and others have pointed to an increase in food insecurity and “hunger hotspots” in various parts of Asia and the Pacific. While conflicts and climate crises can carry some of the blame, we must acknowledge that the slow but steady erosion of our region’s biodiversity is an equal or even greater threat to our future food security.

FAO’s most recent outlook report on Asia-Pacific’s Forest Sector found that biodiversity and ecosystem resilience in natural forests are declining along with the capacity of these forests to deliver water and soil protection, climate regulation, amenity and cultural values and wood, foods and medicines. 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.

While this biodiversity loss is a crisis for Asia and the Pacific in many ways, the impact it can have on our ability to achieve future food security poses a serious threat. We know from FAO’s recent reports that the Asia-Pacific region is home to half of the world’s undernourished people and that nearly 45 percent cannot afford a sustainable and healthy diet.

At the heart of some of these nutrition challenges is a food system that is currently founded on a narrow genetic base of 10-15 crops. We have lost much of the diversity that was, historically, commonplace in our diets and increasing dietary diversity is a key part of the solution to ending malnutrition.

According to the “The State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture,” published by the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture Assessments, biodiversity for food and agriculture (BFA) contributes to food security and nutrition in many ways. This includes the enabling of food to be produced in a wide range of environments, helping to maintain the stability of food supplies throughout the year and resilience to shocks such as droughts and pest outbreaks, supplying a wide variety of nutritionally diverse foods.

Indeed, wild biodiversity is an important source of food for many people, particularly