6% of Earth’s protected land is used to grow crops, study finds
by Morgan Erickson-Davis on 23 January 2021
Protected areas are intended safeguard the planet’s vulnerable inhabitants – including 83% of its endangered species.
A new study reveals that cropland takes up 13.6% of the planet’s ice-free surface area and overlaps with 6% of its protected areas.
While some species are at home in agricultural fields, many are not – particularly the endangered species many protected areas were created to safeguard.
The study’s authors call for national and international sustainability goals to implement a more holistic, data-driven approach when it comes to improving food security and preserving habitat.
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IMAGE: The image of a female Asian elephant in a tea plantation on the fringes of Kaziranga
National Park in India, bordering the Eastern Himalaya biodiversity hotspot, exemplifies
potential impacts to endangered species. view more
Credit: Image courtesy of Sashanka Barbaruah-Wildlife Trust of India
Protected areas are critical to mitigating extinction of species; however, they may also be in
conflict with efforts to feed the growing human population. A new study shows that 6% of all
global terrestrial protected areas are already made up of cropland, a heavily modified habitat
that is often not suitable for supporting wildlife. Worse, 22% of this cropland occurs in areas
Palm oil alternatives require more land – study
A truck at an oil palm plantation in Indonesia. The country is one of the biggest producers of palm oil in the world. Copyright: Ryan Woo/CIFOR(CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
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But oil palm plantations have unmatched production efficiency
Alternatives such as soy bean and rapeseed require more land
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