The Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, Astrid Schomaker, has warned that Africa is bearing a disproportionate share of the global biodiversity crisis, with serious implications for food security, livelihoods, water resources and climate resilience.
Schomaker raised the concern while speaking at a high-level scientific and policy forum in Nairobi, where she said biodiversity decline was already having direct consequences for millions of Africans, particularly farmers, fishers, rural communities and people whose livelihoods depend heavily on forests and other natural resources.
She noted that the effects of biodiversity loss were increasingly evident across the continent through declining crop yields, shrinking fish populations, deteriorating soil quality, contaminated water sources and the loss of medicinal plant species.
Biodiversity, which encompasses the variety of plants, animals and microorganisms that sustain ecosystems, plays a critical role in agricultural production, fisheries, healthcare, clean water supplies, soil fertility, climate regulation and protection against environmental hazards.
Africa is home to roughly one-quarter of the world’s biodiversity, including major forests, wetlands, grasslands, coastal ecosystems and wildlife habitats. However, scientific assessments indicate that the continent has lost an estimated 24 per cent of its species since the pre-industrial era.
Schomaker said the trend was particularly worrying because agriculture, forestry, fisheries, tourism and other nature-dependent sectors remain major sources of income and livelihoods for millions of people across Africa.
She identified climate change as a major driver of biodiversity decline, noting that rising temperatures, prolonged droughts, flooding, desertification and changing rainfall patterns were disrupting ecosystems and reducing agricultural productivity.
Other factors contributing to biodiversity loss, she said, include invasive species, pollution, deforestation and the unsustainable exploitation of land and water resources.
According to her, these pressures are gradually weakening the natural resources on which rural and coastal communities depend for food, clean water, livelihoods and economic wellbeing.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has also warned that global financial flows continue to favour activities that harm nature rather than those aimed at conservation and ecosystem restoration.
UN estimates indicate that global spending on activities harmful to nature is approximately 30 times higher than investment in environmental protection and ecosystem restoration.
Schomaker noted that African countries face additional challenges due to limited financial and technological capacity to reverse environmental degradation and protect vulnerable ecosystems.
Despite contributing relatively little to global greenhouse gas emissions, Africa remains one of the regions most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation.
Experts have warned that continued biodiversity loss could worsen hunger, poverty, unemployment, migration and resource-related conflicts across the continent if urgent action is not taken.
They have therefore called on African governments to integrate biodiversity conservation into agriculture, infrastructure, mining, energy, trade and broader national development policies.
They also stressed the need to close Africa’s biodiversity financing gap by increasing investments in conservation, ecosystem restoration and sustainable natural resource management.
Schomaker said scientific evidence had provided a clear understanding of the biodiversity crisis facing Africa and the wider world, stressing the need for stronger action to protect nature and safeguard the livelihoods that depend on it.
