COVID-19 Report - 17

Risk 2: Unsustainable food systems driving the
large-scale conversion of land for agriculture
Land conversion for food and livestock production is
destroying and fragmenting natural habitats around
the world. The amount of land converted for food and
livestock production is increasing at a rapid rate in order to
feed a growing global population. Since 1990, 178 million
hectares of forest have been cleared, which is equivalent to
the size of Libya, the 18th largest country in the world. The
loss of primary forest and grasslands has continued to grow
in recent years, mainly driven by commodity production and
shifting agriculture.42,43 Most habitat loss associated with
agriculture is attributed to just three commodities: beef, soy
and palm oil.44 As a result of extensive land conversion, about
70 per cent of forests globally are now within 1 kilometre of a
forest edge and are exposed to further fragmentation.45 Not
only forests are at risk - over half of the original Cerrado
and North American grassland prairies have also been lost.46
Widespread land conversion has severe consequences for the
natural world. Both forest and non-forest ecosystems, such as
grasslands, have extremely rich biodiversity, play important
roles in storing carbon and are often major water sources.
Land conversion for agricultural activities has caused 70 per
cent of planetary biodiversity loss and half the loss of tree
cover globally to date.47

Habitat fragmentation is the process during which a large
expanse of habitat is transformed into many patches of a
smaller total area that are isolated from each other.48

Extensive land conversion, deforestation and
habitat fragmentation are not only catastrophic for
ecosystem health, they also increase interactions
between humans and wildlife. Globally between 1945
and 2005, land-use change has contributed to almost half of
zoonotic disease events emerging in humans.49 For example,
extensive deforestation and fragmentation in West and
Central Africa is linked to several Ebola outbreaks in these
regions (see case study 2). Forest fragmentation brings
wildlife into closer contact with humans in areas where
wildlife and people increasingly share the same spaces
and compete for the same resources.50 Likewise, human
encroachment into ecosystems such as forests may increase
the number and density of host species in forest fragments,
increasing the likelihood of interactions with humans.

© Ronald Petocz / WWF

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COVID-19 Report

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