Africa is bearing a disproportionate burden of global biodiversity loss, threatening food security, livelihoods, clean water and climate resilience across the continent.
Executive secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Astrid Schomaker, disclosed this during a major scientific and policy meeting in Nairobi.
Mrs Schomaker said biodiversity loss was not an abstract environmental problem for Africans, particularly rural communities, farmers, fishermen and people dependent on forests and natural resources.
For millions of Africans, she said, the crisis could be seen in declining harvests, disappearing fish stocks, degraded soils, polluted water and diminishing medicinal plants.
Biodiversity refers to the variety of plants, animals and microorganisms existing within ecosystems and contributing to the survival and wellbeing of human beings.
It supports agriculture, fisheries, medicine, clean water, soil fertility, climate regulation and protection against environmental disasters.
Reports say Africa is home to about 25 per cent of the world’s biodiversity, including several globally significant forests, wetlands, grasslands, coastal ecosystems and wildlife habitats.
However, the continent has lost an estimated 24 per cent of its species since the pre-industrial period, according to a recent scientific study.
The situation poses serious concerns because millions of Africans depend directly on agriculture, fisheries, forestry, tourism and other nature-based activities for survival.
Mrs Schomaker identified climate change as the single biggest driver of biodiversity loss, warning that Africa remained particularly vulnerable to climate-related shocks.
Rising temperatures, droughts, flooding, desertification and changing rainfall patterns are increasingly disrupting ecosystems and undermining agricultural productivity across the continent.
The official also identified invasive species, pollution, deforestation and the overexploitation of land and water resources as major threats to Africa’s biodiversity.
She said these pressures continued to deplete resources relied upon by rural and coastal communities for food, income, clean water and economic stability.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) earlier warned that global spending on activities destroying nature remained substantially higher than investments directed towards protecting and restoring ecosystems.
According to the UN, the world spends about 30 times more money destroying nature than protecting it.
Africa is particularly disadvantaged because many governments lack sufficient financial and technological resources to reverse land degradation and protect threatened ecosystems.
The continent also contributes comparatively little to global greenhouse gas emissions but suffers heavily from climate change and environmental destruction.
Experts say declining biodiversity could worsen hunger, poverty, migration, conflict and unemployment across Africa if governments fail to undertake urgent corrective measures.
African governments are, therefore, being encouraged to integrate biodiversity protection into agriculture, infrastructure, energy, mining, trade and national development planning.
Mobilising adequate funding remains central to efforts to close Africa’s biodiversity financing gap and support conservation, restoration and sustainable resource management.
Mrs Schomaker said available scientific evidence had provided a clear understanding of the biodiversity crisis confronting Africa and the rest of the world.