Current conservation policies risk accelerating biodiversity loss

Bateman, Ian; Balmford, Andrew

doi:10.1038/d41586-023-01979-x

COMMENT
21 June 2023

Current conservation policies risk accelerating biodiversity loss

Three approaches that aim to cut the harms of agriculture — land sharing, rewilding and organic farming — risk driving up food imports and causing environmental damage overseas. An alternative approach is both effective and cheaper.

Ian Bateman⁰ &
Andrew Balmford¹

Ian Bateman
1. Ian Bateman is professor of environmental economics at the Land, Environment, Economics and Policy Institute (LEEP), University of Exeter Business School, Exeter, UK.
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Andrew Balmford
1. Andrew Balmford is professor of conservation science at the Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, UK.
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Six tea pickers remove weeds using tools at an organic tea plantation farm — Tea pickers in Sri Lanka remove weeds from an organic tea plantation. Credit: Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP via Getty

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With agriculture the main driver of the habitat loss and degradation that underpin the global biodiversity crisis¹, governments worldwide have implemented policies to lessen farming’s impact on the environment. Meanwhile, landowners, organizations interested in the financing of biodiversity conservation and certain non-governmental groups, including conservation bodies, have been pushing for land-use changes that benefit nature.

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Nature 618, 671-674 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-01979-x

References

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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[1] IPBES. Summary for Policymakers of the Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES, 2019).
Google Scholar

[2] Bateman, I. J. & Balmford, B. Land Use Policy 79, 293–300 (2018).
Article Google Scholar

[3] Massimino, D. et al. BirdTrends 2022: Trends in Numbers, Breeding Success and Survival for UK Breeding Birds (British Trust for Ornithology, 2023).
Google Scholar

[4] Lenzen, M. et al. Nature 486, 109–112 (2012).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[5] Fuchs, R., Brown, C. & Rounsevell, M. Nature 586, 671–673 (2020).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[6] Searchinger, T. D., James, O., Dumas, P., Kastner, T. & Wirsenius, S. Nature 612, 27–30 (2022).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[7] Smith, L. G., Kirk, G. J. D., Jones, P. J. & Williams, A. G. Nature Commun. 10, 4641 (2019).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[8] Haddad, N. M. et al. Sci. Adv. 1, e1500052 (2015).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[9] Balmford, A. J. Zool. 315, 79–109 (2021).
Article Google Scholar

[10] Collas, L. et al. People Nature 5, 228–240 (2022).
Article Google Scholar

[11] Finch, T. et al. J. Appl. Ecol. 58, 655–666 (2021).
Article Google Scholar

[12] The Royal Society. Multifunctional Landscapes: Informing a Long-Term Vision for Managing the UK’s Land (Royal Society, 2023).
Google Scholar

[13] Paul, C., Techen, A.-K., Robinson, J. S. & Helming, K. J. Cleaner Prod. 227, 1054–1067 (2019).
Article Google Scholar

[14] Furtom, H., Sauer, J. & Jensen, M. S. Public Choice 140, 479–500 (2009).
Article Google Scholar

[15] Kahneman, D. et al. Science 312, 1908–1910 (2006).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[16] Bateman, I. J. et al. Science 341, 45–50 (2013).
Article PubMed Google Scholar

[17] Meyfroidt, P., Lambin, E. F., Erb, K.-H. & Hertel, T. W. Curr. Opin. Environ. Sust. 5, 438–444 (2013).
Article Google Scholar

[18] Bateman, I. J. et al. People Nature 5, 271–301 (2022).
Article Google Scholar

[19] Day, B. & Couldrick, L. Payment for Ecosystem Services Pilot Project: The Fowey River Improvement Auction (Univ. East Anglia & Westcountry Rivers Trust, 2013).
Google Scholar

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